Fated
by LGraceT
Summary: Eren Jaeger knew that eliminating the human-eating titans was his destiny...his fate. But when faced with an ancient scroll found on a past scouting expedition, Eren becomes entangled in a world beyond his understanding, forcing him to question his friends, his destiny, and even his identity. A harsh new land awaits him. Can he survive? Can he fulfill his fate?
1. Chapter 1

"What's that?" Eren stared at the mysterious golden artifact lying on the table in front of him, his blue-green eyes widened in awe. "Hange...?"

"We actually don't know," the brunette replied as she took her glasses off of her face and began polishing them with a corner of her forest-green caret. "We found it on a previous scouting mission, and I was wondering if you've ever seen it before. It might be a key to the titans and your powers, but I'm not sure. As far as I know, it's some kind of ancient scroll, but there's something off about it. I've tried running tests...researching it in books... Nothing."

"You forgot to mention the part when you tried opening the damn thing, and it left a scorch mark on my office wall." A short, raven-haired man entered the small dining room and sat in a chair as far away from her as he possibly could, his silver eyes narrowed in their familiar expression of disdain.

"Lighten up, Levi. It wasn't that bad. Just a little scientific mishap." Hange slid her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. "Accidents happen!"

"Like you?" Levi cooly retorted.

"Anyway, I've come up with a few theories on where this...scroll came from, but I haven't gotten anywhere close to what it does," Hange continued, ignoring Levi's comment. "It's strange; at one point, I accidentally knocked a mixture of strong acid onto it, enough that it should've damaged it, but nothing happened. It's like something's protecting it...and I can't figure out what it is."

Eren silently nodded, only half-registering what Hange said as he stared intensely at the scroll. He found himself tracing the intricate lines engraved into its golden shell, entranced by their odd pattern. Arm outstretched toward the ancient relic, he lightly touched one of the three amethysts embedded at the center of the scroll like eyes on a face.

 _It feels like it's...calling me?_

"The hell are you doing, brat?"

Eren felt an icy hand tightly clenching his wrist. Levi had stretched across the table, his eyes burning with annoyance as he shoved the scroll out of Eren's reach. "Hanje's bad enough about this, as it is. My team's asses aren't about to be put on the line for your stupidity. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir," the chestnut-haired boy replied, struggling to ignore the numbness of his hand.

"Good." The captain let go of Eren's wrist before calmly walking toward the wooden door leading out of the room. "I have important work to do in my office. Let me know if you learn anything...and try to keep from burning the whole damn castle down…."

"Of course, sir," Hange answered timidly, although her rich brown eyes glimmered with amusement.

Levi only gave a long, deep sigh and rolled his eyes as he exited the room, muttering strings of curses. As his utterances of profanity reached Eren's ears, the young cadet cocked his head in curiosity.

 _I've never even heard of some of those before, and I've been in training to join the military for three years!_

"So, here are my theories on what's protecting it." Hange lightly tapped the scroll with her finger before rolling it back in front of Eren. "...Eren?"

But he heard nothing except for the eerie whispering racing through his mind...saw nothing except for the faint glimmer of the precious materials adorning the ancient artifact. Feeling an unfathomable burning in his hand, he desperately reached to cool it against the soothing gold...the gleaming amethysts... Reaching for the relic-

 _No. It has a name..._

 _"Kel,"_ he murmured, placing his hand on the frigid metal. He sighed in admiration as he felt the flawlessness of the craftsmanship under his palm. _"Mu grind mindin lingrah vod..."_

"Eren!"

 _Eren?_

The sharp slap on his hand released him from the spell of the alluring scroll.

"H-Hange? Why did you do that?" Eren asked, staring at her with bleary eyes, as if he had just awakened from a long nap. "You told me you were gonna explain your theories to me."

"...I was explaining them. You became...distracted, and then, you started speaking in this strange language. I think the _Kel_ had something to do with it." She quickly grabbed the scroll and stuffed it into a large pack seated on the floor beside her.

 _"Kel?_ What's that?" Giving the officer a look of confusion, he shook his head. "Why is everything so blurry?!"

"You...you really don't remember, do you? You...Eren?"

The young cadet squinted as he struggled to distinguish Hange's figure from the wall through the haze that had descended over his eyes. He could not understand a single word that she spoke, if she were even speaking at all. Every sound that penetrated his ears blended into an excruciating roar. His heart pounded wildly in his chest, matching its rhythm to the pulsations of the tormenting noise plaguing him. Although he wished to scream for help, he could do nothing but sit slumped in his chair before Hange, paralyzed. He felt himself slipping into a dizzying darkness, and he could do nothing to stop his descent….

* * *

Eren awoke to find himself lying in an infirmary bed, his head pounding with each breath he took. Despite his pain, he almost immediately recognized the familiar ice-blue eyes that gazed at him from a nearby chair.

"…Mikasa…?" he whispered, his voice cracked and dry.

"Eren, you're alive! Don't try to talk…." Mikasa began to lean toward Eren but quickly stopped herself. "I'll go get the doctor and tell him you're up."

She stood from her seat and exited between a set of white linen curtains that had been hung to partition the bed from the rest of the infirmary. Even though the curtains obscured the rest of the patients from Eren's view, he could still hear the agonized moans of the wounded…the raspy coughing of the sick…. Every sound assaulted his ears, worsening the intense throbbing in his skull. Growling in annoyance, he covered his ears with his hands as Mikasa reappeared with a tall, mud-haired man behind her.

"I found a doctor. …Eren, did…did you just… _growl…_ like an animal?" Mikasa gave him a look of concern.

"Strange…." Hange murmured as she entered Eren's partitioned bedroom, scribbling into a small notebook she held in her hand. "Animal-like behavior to accompany the…language, shall we call it?"

"What are you doing here?! What did you do to him?!" Mikasa snarled. Eyes burning with fury, she turned to face Hange.

"We were looking into my research, when he touched something I was showing him," the titan expert replied, ignoring Mikasa's first question. "I think he'll be fine, now that he's up. I just want to check him to make sure he's okay and maybe further my research. Eren, could you please take your hands off of your ears?"

He unwillingly obeyed, clenching his teeth in pain as the sounds of the infirmary invaded his senses completely unmuffled. Struggling to keep from burying himself in the bedsheets, he gave Hange a scowl.

"It's so loud!" he griped.

 _This is killing me! I need to get out of here! To—_

"This is…interesting…." The sound of Hange's voice interrupted his desperate thoughts as the officer rearranged her glasses before jotting a few sentences into her book. "You seem to be more sensitive to sounds than you were before. I wonder if…." She procured a small, capped vial filled with crimson liquid from her pocket. Uncapping it, she shoved it under his nose. "What do you smell?"

"Uh…." Eren gave the contents of the glass container a quick sniff. The familiar sharp, metallic scent hit his nostrils. "…Blood?"

"Officer Hange, may I ask you to leave? Eren doesn't need you to be experimenting on him right now." The doctor gave a sigh of annoyance and ran his fingers through his mud-brown hair. "Please, this is for his health."

"All right…." Hange replied, capping her vial and tucking it into her pocket. "I'll be working on the information I have while you recuperate, Eren. Rest up!"

Without another word, she hastily exited Eren's confined quarters, humming an odd tune as she left.

"Why don't you try standing up and walking around a little bit?" the doctor continued as if nothing had happened. "You think you can?"

"Yeah, I think so…." Eren answered, slowly sliding out of the infirmary bed. After a few tentative steps, he approached the doctor.

"Any dizziness?"

"No, I think I'm fine," the young cadet replied.

"I think you can leave the infirmary now, but I want you to get some rest. You don't need to pass out like that again. If you feel dizzy at all, make sure you come back right away. I'll leave you two to clear out. There are other patients I need to work with." The doctor exited through the curtains and disappeared into the mayhem of the infirmary.

After a few heartbeats of silence, Eren cocked his head quizzically at Mikasa.

"What are you doing here? Did something happen?! And what…what was Hange going on about?" He angrily clenched his fists, although he could feel his stomach twinge in uneasiness. "Was it the titans?! Did they break through Wall Rose again?!"

"No, Eren. Everything's okay," Mikasa answered. "I heard about what happened to you, and I wanted to make sure you were alive. When I saw you in that bed, Eren…I thought you were dead…. The doctor said he'd never seen anything like it! He said you were mumbling in this different language almost the whole time you were out. Are you sure you're okay?" She reached to place her hand on his shoulder.

"I said I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me so much!" Eren growled, shoving her away from him. "I can take care of myself!"

"You've been _eaten by a titan_ before," Mikasa replied. "I just want you to be safe.…"

Her voice trailed away into silence as she shot him a pleading look.

Eren never returned her gaze. Narrowing his eyes into slits, he pulled the curtains surrounding his quarters aside and stared into the large room before him.

Several beds lay neatly in two rows along the walls, most of them occupied by wounded or ill soldiers. Their moans of pain had reached an even greater volume, clawing at Eren's ears…shredding what was left of his sanity. Each agonized cry seemed to reverberate in the young cadet's skull….

Giving a groan of annoyance, Eren covered his ears and raced out of the infirmary. He was faintly aware of Mikasa's cries of concern, but he would not—could not—lower his hands from his ears. Even after he escaped into one of the dimly lit halls of the Survey Corps's base, he could not stop his rapid heartbeat, soothe his aching head. Only one thing ran through his mind.

 _The Scroll…. I have to find the Scroll!_

"Eren! _Eren!"_

He felt Mikasa's chilly hand on his arm. Held from his goal by his adoptive sister's strength, he uncovered his ears and struggled violently to pry himself lose of her firm grip.

"Let me go!" he shrieked. "I have to see it! I have to—!"

"See what?!" she asked, never loosening her hold on his arm. "Where are you going?! Eren—!"

"Let me go, damn it!" Eren could feel his breathing becoming more labored…his muscles beginning to ache. Despite his body's protests of pain, he continued what he knew to be a fruitless fight. He could not ignore the voice in his mind: a powerful roar that would only be satisfied if he obeyed it. "LET ME GO!"

"Eren, something's wrong! You need help!" Mikasa tugged even more fiercely at his arm.

"SHUT UP! You dare interfere with me, _joor?!"_ he snarled through gritted teeth, his voice echoing throughout the hallway. "Such arrogance!"

With a final pull, Eren broke free of Mikasa and fled down the hall.

"Foolish mortal…."

He gasped as soon as he heard the sound of his voice.

 _Or, I think it's my voice. When did it get so deep? So…authoritative? But it actually sounds…right to me…. What's happening to me?! Why am I doing this?! NO! None of that matters right now. I need to find the Scroll! That's all that matters! All that matters…._


	2. Chapter 2

The large, wooden door leading to Hange's laboratory stood before him, the gateway to his goal. Eren had finally managed to lose Mikasa in the castle's vast maze of halls and rooms, and now, he stood panting in victory and exhaustion.

 _But I won't lose her forever. She always manages to find me, and if I don't hurry…. Why am I doing this anyway? Why am I here?_

 ** _"_** ** _Eren…."_** The deep voice echoed around him, resonating with power. Power…and something else….

 _But what? What is it?_

A sudden chill raced through the young cadet, as if the blood in his veins had become rivers of icy water. He had never heard such a voice in his life, and yet…

 _It sounds so familiar…._

"What do you want?" he asked calmly, as if he were greeting an old friend.

 ** _"_** **Kel…."** the voice replied before trailing away into nothingness.

"Yes…the _Kel…."_ Eren murmured as he approached the door and grabbed its handle. Pulling gently, he opened the door wide enough to squeeze into Hange's laboratory.

A maze of small tables piled with different vials, beakers, and glasses greeted him as he entered the room. Odd concoctions filled several of the glass containers, their noxious, burning scent permeating the air.

Eren could not help but gag at the choking stench, his eyes tearing as soon as the chemical-filled draft hit them.

 _How does Hange stand this?!_

"Oh, Eren, I see you've found my lab!" Hange emerged from underneath a nearby table, holding an empty vial in her hand. "Why don't you sit down for a little bit, and we can continue this research. I don't have much, but what I gathered from your…episode is quite fascinating. …Eren?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah…. Your research…." He stared at her blankly for a heartbeat before turning his attention to a small section of drawers running along the wall at the back of the room.

"Eren, are you feeling all right?" Hange gave him a look of concern. "You're acting a little…strange."

"Yeah, I'm fine," the young cadet answered. "I just need…."

His voice trailed away as he slowly approached a large drawer and opened it, revealing the ancient Scroll. The _Kel._

"What…what are you doing? Is that the—? Eren—!"

Hange's words faded into an unintelligible gibberish as Eren quickly snatched the relic from its resting place and opened it.

Infinitesimal patterns filled the chestnut-haired boy's vision, seeming to sear his eyes as he gazed upon the contents of the Scroll. As much as wished to close them tightly, to look away from what he had exposed to himself, he could not even blink. Not even breathe. Eren stood paralyzed before the _Kel,_ a slave to its desires.

 ** _"_** ** _And so it begins…."_** The odd voice echoed in Eren's ears, filling him with a strangely comforting numbness.

A flash of pure, blinding light replaced the Scroll's intricate designs, followed by a dizzying darkness….

* * *

Eren immediately sat up in a fur bedroll, his heart racing furiously in his chest. Panting for breath, he stared in bewilderment at the tent walls surrounding him.

 _Where…where am I?! What…? Did I leave the Walls on a Scouting expedition and not remember it?_

"Eren?" Mikasa's icy hand grabbed his wrist as she rose from a pile of furs on the other side of the minuscule tent. "Are you okay? Is it another one of your fevers?"

"Fevers?" Eren whispered confusedly. "Mikasa, what are you talking about? And what're we doing out here?! I told you not to join the Scouts!"

"Scouts?" Mikasa echoed, cocking her head quizzically at him. "Maybe you should lay down. It sounds like you're having another fever and don't know it. Here…."

She let go of his wrist and reached to touch his forehead, her eyes filled with worry. Growling, Eren swatted her hand away from him and scrambled out of the mounds of animal hides covering him.

"What's wrong with you?!" he snarled as he crawled to a nearby corner of the tent. "We're out on a mission! I don't have time to worry about a fever whether I have one or not! Damn it, Mikasa! Quit worrying about me and focus!"

"What mission? Eren, I—"

"Shut up! The titans will hear you!" He slowly made his way to the thick flap covering the tent's entrance. "They could be out there right now!"

"Titans?" She cocked her head in confusion at his words, inching her way toward him. "What are you talking about? I can't understand what you're saying at all. Eren, you really need to get back in bed before you get worse. We won't be able to travel tomorrow if you're not feeling well. Can you please go back to sleep? I don't want this to get any worse than it already is."

"I'm going out and checking to make sure there aren't any titans. I'll be right back…."

"Eren! Wait!" Mikasa's hand barely grazed the back of his—

 _Wait! This isn't my shirt! What…what am I wearing?_

He had no time to ponder his thoughts as he squirmed through the entrance flap and emerged into the chilly night air of a lush forest. Dark pines creaked quietly over his head, as if they were speaking of some deep truth that had faded from the knowledge of man. Thick ferns swayed gently beneath them, cool and damp against his ankles. The stars, watchful eyes of the night, shone dimly above him, throbbing to an ancient rhythm he could not fathom.

 _Where am I? What is this place?_

Eren tentatively approached one of the towering pines, gasping as he touched the scaly, black bark. His breaths coming out in small, white clouds of vapor, he sprang away from it in awe.

 _I have to be dreaming…but…but why does this all feel so real? And my clothes…._

He stared down at the thick, knee-length fur tunic in confusion, shivering as the steady night breeze wrapped itself around his exposed lower legs and ankles. A gleaming, bronze amulet hung from his neck, the distorted image of a winged creature coiling around a pole serving as its centerpiece.

 _Strange…._

Eren grabbed the work of bronze and held it in his palms, gazing at it in wonder. A quick shudder ran through him as he gently rubbed the creature with quivering fingers.

"Eren!" Mikasa had crawled out of the tent, her fingers curled around the hilt of a large, iron sword. Legs stretched and weapon drawn in a fighting stance, she quickly scanned the small forest clearing before sheathing her blade and approaching him. "Don't scare me like that! You know how dangerous the forest is at night! There are wolves and Divines know what else out here!"

"So, we won? Against the titans?" He shook his head to clear the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in his mind. "How…?"

"What in Oblivion are titans?! Eren, I…your eyes…." She whispered, her voice barely audible as she stared at him in concern.

"What about them?! What's going on?! Why aren't you explaining anything?!" Eren's heart pounded in his chest at the sight of her worried gaze. "Please, Mikasa! I need to know what's going on! Where's home?! Why are we here…in this place?! And what…what's wrong with my eyes?!"

"Eren…." Mikasa reached for his hand with her own. "I think it's time we go back to the tent and calm down. We can talk about it later when you're feeling…better."

"Why can't you tell me now?!" he snarled, balling his fists in frustration. "Damn it, I'm not a kid anymore! You can stop treating me like one! Just tell me!"

"Come on, Eren. Let's just go back inside before we freeze to death," Mikasa murmured, grabbing him by the wrist.

"No!" He wrenched himself free of her grip, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground with a bruising thud. "If you're not gonna tell me, I'll find out for myself!"

The chestnut-haired boy then raced into the pines, never giving her another glance. He could hear her desperate pleas for him to stop…the light thrumming of her feet against the ground….

 _Damn it, she'll catch me for sure! I don't know where I'm going, and I can't run barefoot in this cold forever!_

Numbness had already begun to creep into his toes and the soles of his feet. Each breath burned his lungs as he gulped in the chilly air, forcing him to slow to an agonizing jog.

Stumbling up the gentle slope of a hill, he collapsed before a small pool of frigid water. A small group of large, bluish-gray crabs scuttled along the tiny pond's shore, burying themselves in the cool mud. Preoccupied with their attempts to combat the harsh cold of the night, they barely gave the exhausted cadet a glance.

 _What are these things? And why—?!_

"Eren!" Mikasa's voice echoed in the stillness of the night. "EREN!"

 _She's coming…but I'm not leaving without my answers…._

Peering into the clear water, he gasped sharply at the image that greeted him. A pair of blood-red eyes stared up at him from the calm shallows, widened in shock and fear.

Heart racing furiously, he could not draw his attention away from them. Every thought, every muscle locked….leaving only those eyes…. Fiery moons burning in the darkness….

 _This can't be real! Maybe it's one of those optical illusions Armin once told me about. A trick of the light…._

"…Eren?"

"M-Mikasa?" he squeaked, his voice barely audible as he continued peering into the pool of water, searching for any trace of his eyes. "Wh-Wha…?"

 _What the hell is going on?!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Eren, I…." Mikasa stared at the ground, unable to make eye contact with the chestnut-haired boy. "You'll be okay. I found a healer, remember? A good one up in Morthal. He'll help you—"

"Quit hiding stuff from me and tell me what's wrong, damn it!" Eren growled. He stood up and turned to face her.

"I…there's…you started having these…fevers, remember?" Mikasa replied. "The healers in Cyrodil can't treat them, so we came to Skyrim for a cure. We're going to meet this mage up in Morthal to fix what's wrong. You'll be okay, Eren. I promise…."

"Cyrodil? Skyrim?" he echoed, shaking his head in confusion. "Wh-what are you talking about? Did we kill all the titans and find more cities? I thought…I thought we were the last humans. That we were the only ones who survived."

"Have you been reading those horror stories that new author's been publishing without telling me?" She sheathed her sword and approached him. "I've told you not to read his books! They give you nightmares!"

"You don't remember?" Eren stared at her in wonder. "After all we've been through together? Shigonshina…Mom….?"

Tears began to fill his eyes as the memory of his mother being lifted from the rubble of his home and devoured entered his mind. The giant hands that had snatched and twisted her body like an old doll…the blood that had splattered on the titan's smiling face…his screams of horror….

 _And I couldn't do a thing about it…._

"We watched her die, Mikasa! The titans…they killed her! You were there with me, trained for the military, fought at Trost. You just visited me in the infirmary yesterday…or, I think it was yesterday…."

"Eren…." Mikasa whispered, gently taking hold of his hand. "You just need to go back to bed. You're only going to get worse if you stay out here in the cold. I'm sure if you rested for a little bit, you'd at least feel well enough to travel tomorrow. We need supplies, and there's a town not too far away from here. We can make it there sometime tomorrow morning, but only if you get some sleep."

"Why are you acting like this? How can you not remember everything we went through?!" Eren quickly snatched himself free of Mikasa's strong grip.

 _Was…was I able to pull away from her without really struggling?! Training made me strong, but not_ that _strong! Never as strong as Mikasa, much less stronger! What's wrong with me?!_

"…Maybe you should just stay back in the tent tomorrow," the dark-haired woman sighed. "Don't get out for anything until I say you can."

Suddenly stiffening, she slowly began to move her hand to the sword dangling in its sheath from her hip.

"Why? I'm feeling fine! You really don't need to worry about me so much! What…what are you doing?" Eren stared at Mikasa's pale hand resting on the weapon's dull gray hilt, eyes widened in fear. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Run!" she whispered. "Now!"

Eren opened his mouth to protest, but he quickly closed it again as soon as he caught sight of the arrow whizzing toward him. Dodging the fatal projectile, he watched wide-eyed as six men charged into the clearing. Weapons drawn, they surrounded their targets.

"You're pretty deep in these woods…." A middle-aged man stood in front of Eren, pointing his steel sword at the young cadet. "Don't you know it can be…dangerous out here at night?"

"What are you doing?" Eren stared at the gleaming blade in confusion before meeting the strange man's gaze. "Think you can help us? We just need—"

"We actually need something from you," the man interrupted. "Give us your coin."

"What?"

"Your coin," the man repeated, circling Eren before stopping in front of Mikasa. He gave a short chuckle as he examined her fighting stance. "I see we have a warrior maiden. Do you even know how to use that sword?"

"What are you doing?!" Eren readied himself to advance upon the old bandit. Before he could utter another word, he felt the icy metal of a blade against his throat.

"Shut up!" the owner of the blade, a young, blonde-haired man decked in a fur tunic similar to Eren's, growled. "Or I'll let the ground run red with your blood!"

The clash of steel against iron rang out in the air, followed by a sharp gasp of pain. Mikasa now lay on the ground, crimson blood gushing from her leg. The bandit chief stood over her, shaking his heading mock pity.

"Pathetic…." he murmured.

 _They're going to kill her if I don't something quick!_

"Leave her alone, bastard!" Eren snarled, his eyes burning with fury. He rammed his elbow into his captor's stomach.

The blonde-haired bandit let out a huff of air at the painful attack. He never fell to the ground or loosened his grip, only pressed the dagger even closer to Eren's windpipe. "I'd control that temper of yours if I were you, brat!"

"I'll kill all of you!" Eren continued, despite the almost unbearable pressure of the bandit's blade on his throat. "I mean it!"

"We'll see about that!" The young bandit hissed as he readied himself to slit the life-giving artery underneath Eren's jaw. "I wonder how much you'll scream…."

"Stop, Bjorn…. Lower your dagger." The middle-aged man gestured to the young bandit. "Let's see how he plans to kill us without any weapons. Let the fool give us a little entertainment before he dies. We have plenty of time…."

 _You're the fools! Those'll all be useless against me soon!_

"Aye…." Eren's captor sighed, shooting his leader an icy glare before removing his dagger from his would-be victim.

As soon as he felt the intense pressure on his throat disappear, Eren lifted his hand to his mouth. Placing it between his teeth, he clamped down between two of his fingers. His blood streamed down his wrist and onto the ground, mingling with the grass beneath his feet.

 _Any time now!_

His heart thudded wildly as he waited for the blinding streak of light to consume him, for the powerful body of his titan to form itself around him. Nothing.

 _No! This can't be right! Why isn't this working?!_

"Come on…." he muttered, struggling to keep himself from crying out in pain as he sank his teeth deeper into his flesh. "Not now, dammit!"

"Eren, what…are you doing?! Please…stop! You're going to—" Mikasa's desperate pleas were drowned by the bandits' mocking cries of encouragement.

"Keep trying, milk-drinker!"

"Why don't you try your other hand?!"

"Maybe if you bit your feet…."

Quivering with rage, Eren continued to mangle his hand with his teeth. He could hear the crack of his own bones, feel the sharp, excruciating snap where his finger connected to his palm. Unable to bear the agony of his flesh being torn any longer, he paused in his work and stood panting before the group of marauders.

The sound of the bandits' taunting laughter filled the air as he released his bloodied appendage from his mouth and allowed it to drop to his side.

"That's…some plan!" the bandit leader chuckled. He approached Eren, sword drawn and ready to deliver a killing blow. "It's too bad you—"

The man gasped sharply as soon as he locked eyes with Eren. The taunting gleam in his sky-blue eyes had disappeared, replaced by a dark fear. After a few seconds of silence, he raced into the night.

"Vampire! Retreat!" His deep voice echoed in the stillness of the night.

 _Vampire?_

Eren watched as each one of the bandits followed their leader into the blackness of the forest and disappeared from view. Some of them even dropped their weapons as they fled in order to lighten themselves. Within seconds, the menacing strangers' shrieks of fear had faded into the distance.

 _What was that all about?_

Mikasa's gasp of pain snapped Eren's attention away from the mens' odd behavior.

"Are you all right?!" he asked worriedly. "That looks pretty bad…."

He stared at the deep gash in her leg, eyes widened in horror.

 _What kind of sick person would do this?!_

"You…idiot!" She gritted her teeth in pain. "I told…you to run! Why…didn't you…listen to me?! And why in…Oblivion did you…bite your hand?!"

Eren glanced down at the stinging mass of blood and flesh that had been his hand. He would not be able to assess the damage before washing it. Wincing in pain, he began to rip his clothing's sleeves off of his arms.

"Here…." he whispered as he offered Mikasa the strips of hide. "For your leg…."

"Eren…your hand! You really…need to wash it!" she fretted as she took the make-shift bandages. "It's going to get infected if you don't! Why would you do something like that?!"

"Because it's the only way I can turn into a titan," he replied. "You remember, right? You, me, Armin…we were all standing in front of those cannons…and it happened…. You've got to remember that!"

"Armin? Who's that?" Mikasa cocked her head in confusion. "Is he someone…from your dreams?"

"No! Armin! Our friend from when we were kids, remember? He trained to go into the military with us, and he's so smart! He can figure out—"

Mikasa's look of concern silenced him. Sighing, she shook her head.

"You need…to find a town. I…I don't think…I can go anywhere on this…leg…and there's nothing…at our camp we can use." She began to wrap the hide strips around her wound with quivering fingers. "Buy two…healing potions. One for me…and one…for you. Here…take my coin."

She reached into a small satchel hanging from her hip and pulled out a small purse made of rough cloth. The gold inside of it jingled quietly as she reached to place it into Eren's good hand.

Eren kneeled in front of her and grabbed the coin purse, clutching it tightly.

"Please…hurry," she begged, her eyes glazing in pain. "That path should lead you…to the main road." She pointed toward a small dirt pathway that lay between two small cliffs. "It should take you to…Helgen, I think."

Eren gave her a small nod of farewell before standing and racing down the small path. Ignoring the throbbing in his mangled hand, he kept his quick pace. He never knew when his feet hit the flat, gray stone of the main road, only that he would stop when he had reached the town of Helgen.

 _I have to get her that potion, whatever the hell that is…. Oh, well. I'm sure there will be plenty of people to help me out once I arrive—_

A deep roar suddenly echoed in the night, shaking the ground with its sheer volume. A bellow of dominance and anger.

Eren froze as soon as he heard it. Panting for breath, he instinctively glanced around him, searching for any sign of titans. He had never heard of a titan that could roar, but with the frequency of abnormals, he could not deny the possibility of one of those human-eating giants lurking in the dark pines surrounding the road.

 _I am outside of the Walls, and even if we did beat them, a few could still be out there! And I can't use my power right now…._ He flinched at the sight of his bloodied hand. _Best bet's to get to this town as soon as I can! It probably has walls up to keep the titans out…._

He continued his journey, adrenaline boosting his speed. After what seemed to be eternities of running on cold, hard stone, he found himself staring at a pair of large, wooden doors.

 _So, this must be Helgen…._ Eren gasped as he heard another deep roar. _It's closer now. And…from inside the town? Strange…. It feels like I know this sound…or, I should, anyway. But why?_

Before he could open Helgen's gates, a midnight-black creature rose from the small town, its large, leathery wings carrying it into the sky. Thick scales as sharp as titan-killing blades covered the animal's body from the tip of its triangular muzzle to its weapon-like tail. Long, curved talons protruded from both of its feet could easily slice through anything or anyone that happened to cross the beast's path. Giving a final deep bellow, it soared into the distance and disappeared from view.

One word alone filled Eren's mind as he stared into the direction the creature had gone.

 _"_ _Dovah…."_


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as he realized that he had spoken, he quickly clapped his injured hand over his mouth, ignoring the intense stinging of his wounds.

 _That thing could kill me if I don't keep quiet! He may still be out there, even if I can't see him. But…how did I know what that thing was? I've never seen or even heard of anything like it…._

He slowly pushed open the giant doors serving as Helgen's entrance, the rough wood feeling unnaturally warm against his hands. A wave of heat greeted him as the gates opened to reveal the charred remains of what was left of the town. The blackened walls of buildings stood as a testimony to the fatal fire that had raged through Helgen. Dark heaps of ashes coated the ground around the ruined houses, and glowing embers flitted through the air.

"H-hello?" Eren called, taking a few tentative steps into the open patch of soil serving as the main pathway through the town. "Is anyone there?"

He received only eerie silence in response. Nothing stirred among the burnt skeletons of houses, human or animal. The scent of charred flesh, blood, and burning wood filled his nostrils as he desperately searched building after building for someone—anyone—to break the suffocating silence.

 _There's got to be someone who survived this! One or two civilians hiding behind one of the houses, right?! …Right?_

Walking under a stone archway, he kicked up a pile of pale ashes with his feet. The burning flecks made their way into the wound on his hand, stinging mercilessly. The cuts on his bare feet that he had received from his race to Helgen received that same treatment, alerting him of their presence.

Eren gasped sharply at what felt like tiny daggers digging into his wounds.

 _I didn't even realize my feet were scratched up! Cold must've numbed them…. Strange…my hand hasn't healed yet. When I was at Trost, it didn't take me this long for my arms to start healing…. I have to get that…healing potion Mikasa talked about! If I don't, we're screwed! We're so screwed!_

 ** _"_** ** _Eren."_**

 _The Voice!_

"What is it? Can you help me?"

 **"** **Ziil vokrii naal sahqon. Siiv nii ko golz wahlaan naal munne."**

 _"_ _Your spirit revives with crimson. Find it within stone built by man." What the hell does that mean?!_

Eren gritted his teeth in pain. The horrid daggers in his wounds had become ODM blades slicing through his flesh with stinging precision. He attempted to brush the ashes off of his hand, growling at the intense pain. Fresh blood welled from his torn appendage and trickled down his arm before dripping onto the ground.

 _Wait…blood!_

He scanned the large patch of dirt surrounding him. A trail of crimson stains led to the wooden doors of a deserted stone keep. Hope surged through him as he followed the spatters of blood to the tower.

As soon as he opened the doors, the smell of blood became nearly overwhelming. The body of a man decked in padded blue-and-tan clothing lay propped against a small table, a visible gash in its side. The man's shoulder-length, tawny hair, matted and drenched in sweat, hung in short tendrils around his face. His hand clung tightly to the wooden handle of a small, iron axe.

 _That isn't a regular axe for chopping down trees, though. Blade's too large. But why use an axe against titans? Only ODM blades are sharp enough to cut through the nape. Unless…._

An image of the forest bandits filled his mind. They had carried no ODM gear at all.

 _Only swords and bows…. These people aren't killing titans! They're fighting each other!_ Eren shook his head in disbelief. _No…that can't be right! Why would we—?! …I can't think about this right now. Not when Mikasa's out there in the woods all by herself. She's already wounded. If those men came back…._

He hurried into a nearby hallway and down a dimly-lit corridor, allowing the thought to compel him to keep moving. As he made his way into a lower passage, he felt the ground quiver beneath his feet. Large pieces of the stone ceiling began to collapse onto the floor in front of him.

 _This place won't hold much longer!_

He ducked into a smaller room. The scent of freshly-cooked meat permeated the air, and a large table set for the uneaten meal sat to his left. A small, glass bottle filled with pale red liquid lay atop one of the plates.

Eren slowly lifted the strange bottle from its resting place and popped open its cap. He sniffed the contents out of curiosity and gagged as soon as the bitter scent reached his nostrils.

 **"** **Du nii!"** The Voice rang in his ears, a command that he could not ignore.

 _"_ _Drink it!"_

Without a single word, Eren put the bottle to his lips and began to gulp down the foul-tasting liquid. The earthy, slightly metallic taste clung to his tongue, reminding him of the scent of Trost during the brutal battle with the titans. Blood had mixed with the mud of the streets, giving the town a sickening oder.

 _But this…this is—_

He placed the almost-empty bottle on the table. Bile began to rise in his throat, and lukewarm saliva filled his mouth. Retching, he braced himself with a chair. He stared sightlessly at the patterns carved into the seat's back, begging for the intense nausea to stop. After what seemed to be three eternities, the queasiness finally left him. Glancing at his hand—

 _Wait! My hand! It's healed!_

Not even a faded scar remained where he had torn through his flesh with his teeth. The malevolent stinging of his wounds had disappeared, replaced by a gentle warmth. His feet carried no sign of being scraped mercilessly by the uneven stone of the road leading into Helgen.

He picked up the bottle and stared at what remained of the bitter liquid.

 _This must be Mikasa was talking about…._

"Hey…you…."

Eren turned to face the source of the hoarse whisper: a blonde-haired man decked in the same blue-and-tan uniform as the fallen warrior in the upper levels of the keep. The stranger stood beside a barrel, a small, bloodstained dagger in his hand.

"What…what are you doing here?" The man narrowed his pale blue eyes at Eren. "Didn't you see him?! The dragon?!"

"The what?" Eren cocked his head quizzically at the stranger.

"You had to have seen him! A huge beast, black as night! That thing was a dragon…a harbinger of the end times," the man replied, his eyes darkening with fear. "I barely made it into the keep. Some of my comrades…. They weren't as lucky…."

"Comrades? You're a soldier, too? Can you tell me anything about the titans? Did we really kill them all?"

"What?" The soldier shook his head and narrowed his eyes at Eren. "I don't know what you're talking about…."

"The titans," Eren repeated. "They—"

"Wait…." The man narrowed his eyes at Eren and readied his dagger. "Your eyes! By the gods, you're a vampire! You won't get any of my blood, monster! Come any closer, and I'll kill you!" He pointed his weapon at Eren's chest, panting heavily.

 _Wait a second…._

The soldier had placed his hand on his hip, clutching the wound beneath in order to staunch the steady flow of blood. The warm, red liquid had already soaked his fingers and continued to trickle down his body and onto the ground.

"You're wounded…." Eren murmured.

"What does it matter to you?!" the man spat, his voice seething with contempt. "You want to kill me, anyway!"

"No, I— Here…take this…." Eren gently tossed the glass bottle to the stranger. "It'll help."

"Are you sure this isn't poisoned?"

"Hey, you saw me drink from it, right?" Eren replied. "Trust me, this stuff works."

With a small nod, the soldier warily sniffed the bottle's contents before drinking what remained of the foul liquid. As soon as he had finished, every one of his muscles tightened, and he quickly grabbed the barrel he was standing next to with his free hand. He tightly closed his eyes and took long, deep breaths. Seconds later, he let go of his barrel and turned his attention to Eren's crimson gaze.

"It…it _was_ a healing potion. But why…why would a vampire help a human?" The man shook his head in confusion.

"What's a vampire?"

"Don't pretend to be stupid! You're not fooling anyone, bloodsucker!" The soldier snarled, his grip tightening on his dagger. "Unless…you really don't know. But why wouldn't you? Everyone knows what those filthy bloodsuckers are. You don't know what a vampire is?"

"No, I don't." Eren shook his head. "Are they a type of abnormal?"

"A what?"

"You know, an abnormal. A type of titan that's unpredictable. They're the worst ones to deal with when you go out on Scouting expeditions. At least, that's what Hange told me…."

"I don't know what in Oblivion you're talking about," the soldier replied. "Tell me…what's your name?"

"Eren, sir. Eren Jaeger."

"Well, Eren, do you have any family or friends nearby?" the man asked, sheathing his weapon.

"I have an adopted sister. Her name's Mikasa, but…she's wounded. A group of these men attacked us…. She sent me after a healing potion, so I came here," Eren answered. "Do you know where I could find one?"

"I don't, but I can help you look." The soldier pried open his barrel. "Nothing in this one. There could be a potion on one of my comrades' bodies. Follow me…."

Eren gave a quick nod before taking his place behind his new ally. The damp chilliness of the air caused him to shudder as he made his way down a small flight of stairs. Or maybe…maybe it was the scent of blood that grew stronger with every step he took.

"You can smell it, can't you?" The man turned to meet Eren's gaze. "The blood."

"Yes." Eren cringed as the sharp scent filled his nostrils. The same smell that had hung in the air during the Battle of Trost…on that day….

 _The day it killed her…they killed her…._

"By the way," Eren continued, "what's your name?"

"Ralof. I'm Ralof. …Hey, Eren, you don't have to come with me into this next room if you don't want to. There's going to be a lot of bodies…blood."

"I can handle it," Eren replied. "I'm a soldier, too."

"A soldier, eh?" Turning to face Eren, Ralof narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "What's a boy like you doing in the army?"

"Who are you calling a boy?! I've been training for the military for three years! I fought at Trost! A titan bit my leg off!"

"Yes…a titan…." Ralof glanced at Eren's intact legs before returning his gaze to the young cadet. "Are you sure you don't want to sit down…rest a bit?"

"I'm fine…." Eren growled, pushing his way past Ralof.

 _Why is everyone telling me I need to rest?!_

As soon as he had made his way into the room, Eren quickly covered his mouth with his hand, preventing the contents of his stomach from splattering onto the ground. A wall of the foul odor of blood greeted him. With no windows from which to escape, the stench permeated the already-stale air, seemingly powerful enough to kill brain cells with its noxious scent.

The bodies themselves, each dressed in blue-and-tan or crimson uniforms, lay on the rough, stone floor. Soaked in large puddles of what had once been running through their veins, they stared sightlessly through random walls and the ceiling. Their glazed expressions of shock and fear revealed the knowledge of inevitable death.

"Awful, isn't it?" Ralof whispered hoarsely as he took his place at Eren's side. "This was a torture room. Damn Imperials…. They ambushed us in here while we were trying to escape."

"But why would they do that? Try to kill you?" Eren asked, flinching as he met the gaze of a nearby corpse. "They're people, too, aren't they?"

"Barely," Ralof scoffed. "Faithless dogs turned their backs on everything we believe in, and for what!? 'Peace!?' Damn elves and their White-Gold Concordant! …But it's not over. Not yet, anyway. There'll be a day when we can worship Talos in peace. You'll see. But first, we should focus on helping your sister. There should be a healing potion somewhere in this place…." He kneeled onto the floor and began to search the body of what appeared to be an Imperial soldier.

 _At least, I think it's one of those Imperials. He's not wearing the same uniform as Ralof. But…but why are they fighting each other? Shouldn't they be more worried about the titans? There could still be some out there…waiting. And what are elves?_

Eren shook his head, struggling to clear it of the hurricane of his thoughts.

 _I can't think about that right now! Mikasa needs me!_

With that one thought, he knelt down in front of an Imperial's corpse and stuck his hands into the uniform's blood-soaked pockets. He gagged as the lukewarm, sticky liquid clung to his skin. Even though he had participated in the Battle of Trost…been up to his chest in his comrades' remains….

 _There's something about doing this…something wrong…._

"I've found a healing potion." Ralof's voice broke the uneasy silence that had settled around them. "Now, come on. We need to get out of here before the whole building comes down on our heads…."


	5. Chapter 5

"Eren! You're…back!" Mikasa gave Eren a wide smile before turning her attention to Ralof. "…Who's this?"

"My name is Ralof," the soldier answered, giving her a small nod before procuring the healing potion from a pocket in his tunic. "Your brother told me you needed this…." He held the bottle of red liquid out to her.

"…You'd help us?" Mikasa whispered, narrowing her eyes at the soldier.

"Of course, I would!" Ralof gave the wounded woman a look of disbelief as he gently placed the healing potion in her hands. "What's the honor in leaving you out here with a wound like that?"

Frustration bubbled in Eren's chest as he watched Mikasa stare at the bottle she held in her hands.

 _Just drink the damn thing, Mikasa! Weird…she's acting like it's poison…but why? Doesn't she trust me?_

"Come on! You're losing blood!" He flexed his fingers, struggling to ignore the irritating tingling that now surged through them.

Mikasa gently opened the glass container and took a small sip of the red liquid. After a few seconds, she placed the bottle to her lips. Without another word, she gulped down its contents, never stopping until she had consumed all of the vile liquid. Dropping the now-empty bottle onto the ground, she braced herself as the gash in her leg rapidly closed. As soon as her leg had completely healed, she stood to her feet.

"Thank you," Mikasa whispered breathlessly as she took the potion from him and opened the glass container.

"How are you feeling?" Eren asked, remembering the almost unbearable nausea that had accompanied him when he had consumed the healing potion in Helgen.

"Much better," Mikasa replied, giving him an exhausted smile. "Thank you. Both of you…." She turned her attention from Eren to Ralof before picking up her sword. Although she slid it into the sheath dangling from her hip, her eyes still gleamed with wariness. "But…what happened to you?! You look like you've been through Oblivion!" She nodded at Ralof's bloodstained tunic.

"I feel like I have." Ralof kneeled down and stuck the dagger he still clutched with his hand into the ground to clean it. "My comrades and I…we were waiting at the chopping block."

"Oh?" Every muscle in Mikasa's body seemed to tense at the words _chopping block._

 _What's a chopping block, anyway?_

Eren opened his mouth to ask the question but quickly closed it again upon receiving an icy glare from Mikasa. The glacial pools of light seemed to bore into his skin, forcing him onto the ground. Within seconds, Eren was seated in the dew-laden grass, his mind seized with a sudden incapability to argue.

"We're not criminals. My comrades and I…we fight for Ulfric Stormcloak. Damn Imperials ambushed us about a week ago, and we were taken to Helgen to be executed," Ralof continued. We thought it was over…that the Empire had won and Ulfric would never rule as Skyrim's true High King. But then, a dragon appeared!"

"A dragon?! But that's…that's impossible! Dragons have been extinct for centuries!" Mikasa gasped.

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. He was big and black. The scales on his back looked like they could've cut steel! But I owe my life to that dragon. If he hadn't shown up when he did…. I barely made it out alive. I can't say the same about some of my comrades. We went through the keep, but Imperial soldiers were waiting for us…."

"When did all this happen?" Mikasa asked, her voice full of urgency.

"Early in the morning. The sun had just come up when we arrived at Helgen." Ralof shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe it…a dragon…. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to spend a night out here with a dragon about. My sister Gerdur owns a mill up in Riverwood. It's a little town not too far away from here. She'd help us out…give us food…a warm place to sleep…. Although she might need a little bit of explaining about…." His voice trailed away as he nodded to Eren.

"Thank you, but…." Mikasa's eyes flitted from her sword to Ralof as she answered.

"I know it's hard to trust others, especially a stranger you've never met," Ralof continued, "but Gerdur really can help you. You both look like you need a hot meal and a nice bed. Even if you don't want to stay with my sister, there's still the Sleeping Giant Inn. It'll cost a little coin, but the food and the mead aren't bad."

After a brief silence, Mikasa nodded in consent. "If what you say is true…. Eren, what did you see when you reached Helgen?"

Eren lifted his head to face her, warring with the thick haze of calm that had shrouded his mind. As soon as his eyes locked with hers, the mist vanished, and the unbearable prickling in his fingers returned even stronger than the first time he had noticed it, spreading up his arms and down his back. He made no hesitation with his reply; the words tumbled out of his mouth effortlessly.

"You should believe him! I watched the thing fly out of the town! It was huge, Mikasa! Not as big as a titan, but—"

"'Titans' again? I don't know what books you've been reading that have you so wound up like this! Are you sure you saw a dragon at all?" Mikasa slowly approached him, one hand reaching for his forehead…and the other fumbling with the hilt of her sword.

"Damn it, I said I'm fine!" Eren snarled, recoiling at her chilly touch.

"Maybe it's time we headed for Riverwood." Ralof cleared his throat. "It's not going to get much safer, if that dragon's still around. I'm sure Gerdur has something for…this…."

"For what?!" Eren asked, feeling as if he were drowning in confusion. Gritting his teeth, he glared at the two people withholding information from him. "Why do I—?!"

"We'll go with you. Thank you for your offer," Mikasa interrupted. "Just let us pack up our camp."

Eren clenched his fists, intense heat surging through him.

 _Why the hell won't you let me talk?! Why won't you give me any answers?!_

"No! I'm not going anywhere, until someone tells me what's wrong with me!" He stared intensely at Mikasa, blood-red eyes blazing with savage fury. Intense heat surged through his bloodstream as he stood to his feet. Snarling, he curled his lips to reveal his sharp teeth. "Don't test me, _joor!"_

 **"** **Pahlok joorre! Nust mindok nid!"** ****The ancient voice weaved the message through his mind, his very being as he faced the rebellious pair of individuals: _"Arrogant mortals! They know nothing!"_

"Dare to defy me again! Deny me the right to know!" The words sprang from his lips, although not in his youthful, fiery voice. No, they belonged to another tongue…one of power, strength, intelligence…and darkness.

He froze as soon as he had spoken. Mouth agape, his panic-widened eyes flitted from Ralof to Mikasa.

 _What was that?!_

"I-I'm sorry!" he whimpered, his voice barely audible. "Wh-what's wrong with me?! What's happening?!"

Both Ralof and Mikasa exchanged knowing glances, and Eren could detect the worry in their eyes. A tense silence settled over the clearing, broken only by the long, mournful howl of a wolf. The dread of what dark knowledge was to come permeated the air with its choking thickness, only enhanced by Ralof and Mikasa's silence.

Eren's heart pounded wildly in his chest as he waited for a reply. The fire raging in his blood had now faded, replaced by icy water. Numbness crept up his limbs from his fingers and toes into his chest, and he shivered at the frost covering his heart.

 _Say something! Anything!_

"…It would be wise to let him know…." Ralof finally murmured in the stillness. "For his sanity, at least. If you tell me where you made camp, I'll begin packing your supplies…."

"No, Eren and I can do it," Mikasa began to make her way back toward the campsite, her hand still gripping the hilt of her sword.

"I'll wait for you on the road, then." With that, Ralof gave small nod to both Eren and Mikasa before jogging into the darkness toward the stone road leading to Helgen.

"What were you thinking?!" Mikasa cuffed Eren over the head with her fist as soon as the small tent came into view. "That man could've been another bandit! Eren, you can't go around trusting everyone like this!"

"But…but he's a human…."

"Yes! He's a human!" she replied, halting beside a nearby pine tree. "And that's why you shouldn't trust him! He could've killed you! Eren…. People aren't perfect. They lie, steal, and murder. Most of them here don't care who you are; they just want your coin or your life. This isn't home. That man you brought back with you…. He was at the chopping block!" Sighing through her nose, she lifted her head to gaze into the patches of night sky visible through the trees. "Please, promise me you won't do that again!" She quickly snapped her attention back to him, eyes widened in concern.

 _Eyes…. My eyes!_

Ralof's voice echoed in Eren's mind, conjuring an image of the two fiery pools of light.

 _"_ _Your eyes! By the gods, you're a vampire!"_

"Mikasa?" Eren whispered as he met her piercing gaze. "What's a vampire?"

"You're not changing the subject, Eren! This is serious! If that man had killed you, Eren, I—!" The dark-haired girl shook her head, sighing as she slowly sat down on the frozen ground beneath her. "…I don't know what I'd do…. Your mother told me to look after you, and I'm going to do it. I know you don't understand what's going on, but I promise you, everything will go back to normal once we get this fixed. And why are you asking about vampires? Your mother used to tell us stories about them all the time."

"Mikasa, I need to know! Please! Just this one question! Can't you answer it?!" Eren locked eyes with her, a hurricane of thoughts swirling in his mind.

"…Eren, I'll tell you when we get into town. Come on; we've wasted enough time already," Mikasa replied, suddenly standing to her feet.

 _Why won't she say anything, damn it?!_

"No!" he snarled, backing away from her. "I'm not going with you until you tell me what a vampire is!"

"Why do you need to know right now?" Mikasa asked, her tone unexpectedly calm.

"Before those…bandits ran away, their leader saw my eyes. He called me a vampire. Ralof said the same thing when he looked at me, too. Why? What's a vampire, and why were they so afraid of me?"

"Eren…." Mikasa gave another long sigh and gently took his hands in her own. "Vampires are people with a sickness that makes them able to drink only human blood, and they spread their sickness every time they bite normal humans to drink. They usually only hunt at night, because the sunlight burns them. Almost all of them have pale skin and…red eyes."

Eren's stomach clenched at his companion's words. Bile began to rise in the back of his throat, and he quickly swallowed to keep what had been this morning's meal from reappearing.

 _Or was it last night? …Whenever I read that Scroll, but how long ago was that? Days? Months, even? I don't know anymore! I can't even trust myself at this point! Who knows? Maybe I did—_

He could not bear to finish the thought. Shaking his head, he yanked his hands away from Mikasa and began to slowly back away from her. The anxious numbness that had crept through him in the clearing intensified, causing him to stumble into a dark pine. Gripping its dark, rough bark, he shut his eyes tightly. Every one of his breaths came in short, shallow huffs as he continued to cling to the tree, his fingernails digging into the bark as if the scaly wood were the only raft in a vast ocean of blood. The lifeblood of his comrades.

 _Maybe that's what happened to them…why Mikasa's acting this way. No! I couldn't have! …Could I?_


	6. Chapter 6

"So, I…drink blood?" Eren asked, his voice scarcely above a whisper.

"No," Mikasa shook her head in reply. "Not yet. Vampirism starts like any other sickness; it'll take a few days for you to fully turn. At least, that's what the doctors told me."

She began to fidget with the hilt of her blade with trembling fingers, her eyes never breaking their icy gaze with the young cadet. Eren leaned toward her, and she instantly recoiled from him as if….

 _As if I'm going to—!_

Eren could not bear to finish the thought. He cocked his head at the hunted light in Mikasa's eyes and her defensive position. Then came sound of her sword leaving its sheath…the sharp tip against his throat.

"Mikasa!" he gasped, raising his hands above his head. "Mikasa! Relax!"

The rapid thudding of Eren's heart filled his ears as he watched Mikasa's eyes flicker with pure hatred. For a couple of seconds, she held her icy glare before dropping her weapon to the ground. She let out a long, deep sigh, her breath billowing out in a cloud of vapor.

"I'm sorry…." she murmured as she kneeled to pick up her sword, never daring to meet Eren's confused gaze. "These last days…it's gotten bad, Eren. So bad…. I don't know what I'd do if— I'm really sorry! We'll fix this before it happens! By the Nine, we'll…."

She shook her head before continuing to make her way to the campsite, firmly grabbing Eren's hand as she went. As soon as her chilly fingers clamped onto his wrist, Eren knew that the conversation had ended. For the first time in his life, he did not struggle against Mikasa's hold. Mind swirling with a hurricane of thoughts, he allowed himself to be guided back to the clearing where they had made camp.

 _The way she looked at me…. Is…is she worried about what I'll do? She has to know I'd never! …Doesn't she?_

 _"_ _Doesn't she?"_

The pair of words echoed in his mind, reverberated off of the inside of his skull. Two words that said little, and yet, opened a fathomless world of doubt.

 _If Mikasa doesn't trust me, why should I trust myself?_

Eren's stomach clenched as Mikasa led him into the campsite. The coal-haired girl pointed to a patch of ferns in front of the tent and narrowed her eyes at him. Without a word, he quickly sat down, ignoring the frigid dew that soaked through his clothes. He watched as she approached their small, fur tent and began to dismantle it.

"Um…do you need any help?" he asked, his tongue no longer willing to remain silent. "That looks like a lot for just one—"

"Eren, you're sick. If we want to meet this doctor in time, I need you to stay fit for travel. The last time you helped, you had that fever!" she interrupted as she rolled the tent's thick walls into a furry bundle and attached it to a large knapsack with rope.

"But I don't remem—!"

"You were burning up," she replied. "It doesn't surprise me that you don't remember anything. You just need some rest."

"I feel fine, Mikasa! Just let me help you! I could roll up the beds…pick up papers…." Eren stood to his feet, shivering as his dampened skin and clothing met the chilly night air.

"I said, 'No.'" Mikasa gave him an icy glare and pointed at the ground with a pale finger. "Sit down!"

Returning her angry stare, he begrudgingly obeyed. Although his body heat had not completely faded from his seat, Eren still shivered from the numbing ground. Already, he had begun to lose sensation in the tips of his fingers and toes.

 _If she doesn't hurry up, I'm leaving on my own! I'm not about to freeze to death!_

After what seemed to be three eternities, Mikasa stuffed the final trinket into her backpack. Eren widened his eyes at the pack in wonder, unable to identify the fur of the animal that had been used to create it.

 _I've never seen anything like that before! Why does it have spots?_

He cocked his head at the faded, smoky-black rings sprinkled across the white hairs.

 _Armin would know. He's read so many books, by now, he could tell me. …Where is he, anyway? Where are the others? Did-did they—?_

"Mikasa…where are they?" he asked tentatively.

Mikasa's eyes clouded as she turned to face him.

"Who?"

"Our squad. The Hundred and Fourth Training Corps!" Eren answered frustratedly. "You know, Armin, Sasha, Connie! We just met Captain Levi and Hange! Don't you—?!"

The blank expression on Mikasa's face clearly stated his answer, as much as he hated it.

 _That's right…. She doesn't know. She probably thinks they're not real…that I dreamed about them…._

"I'm packed," she whispered as she approached him. Each of her steps made almost no sound, as if she were a ghost that had been wandering the earth for thousands of years. "Come on. Ralof's waiting for us…."

* * *

The wooden buildings lay shrouded in silence, engulfed by shadows. Not a man or beast stirred in Riverwood's empty street, except for a lone hen lying on the frigid cobblestone. Eyes closed in comfortable slumber, it never acknowledged the trio of visitors entering the unguarded village.

"This way." Ralof gestured toward a small dirt path lying in between two of the town's larger buildings. "Gerdur's cottage is just down here…. Look, there it is!"

And there it was. A tiny cottage nestled in front of the side of a mountain. Its woven fence stretched gently around the building's front, providing the space to shelter a small garden, a pile of hay where two hens dozed in their nests, and a large, shaggy cow.

Eren shook his head in disbelief at the animals.

 _How can they afford all of this?! With the titans stealing most of our farmland, meat's become rare._

"Mikasa…." Eren could not take his eyes off of the cow. "Mikasa, they have a _cow!"_

"I see that…." She sounded as if she had heard this come out of his mouth for the thousandth time. "Just like the three we passed on the road yesterday…. Are you sure you're feeling well?"

"I'm fine, dammit!" Eren growled. "Stop worrying so much!"

"Here we are." Ralof pointed to his sister's home, eyes filled with relief. "Just wait here, at the fence, and I'll go wake her."

The soldier approached the door, his steps almost completely silent. Knocking gently on the rough wood, he stood, unmoving. After a few seconds of silence, a patch of light appeared on the yard, and a blonde woman stood in the now-open doorway.

"Ralof?" she whispered. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?! And who are they?!" Her pale blue eyes widened at Eren and Mikasa. "Some of your comrades?"

"Not comrades yet, but friends." Ralof flashed his traveling companions a smile. "The boy, Eren…I owe my life to him."

"What do you mean? Did something happen?! Are you—?"

"Gerdur, I'm fine," Ralof sighed. "Have you seen any Imperials?"

"No, I haven't. None on either the North or South Road. Why don't you all come inside? You look like you've been through Oblivion! I'll wake Hod…." She rushed back into the house.

"Come on," Ralof murmured as he entered Gerdur's cottage.

Eren followed, his wrist still in Mikasa's iron grasp. Already, his hand had numbed completely from the blocked circulation, and he growled in frustration at its limp position. He knew that as soon as Mikasa let go of him, his hand would feel as if it were being pricked by hundreds of needles.

 _She didn't need to hold on to me so tightly, anyway. I could've kept up on my own!_

The soothing warmth of Gerdur's home caressed Eren's face as he entered. A small fire burned in a stone hearth, crackling every few seconds. The tantalizing smell of food hit his nostrils, and he gazed longingly at a wheel of bright yellow cheese sitting inside a kettle near the fireplace. Mouth watering, he took a tentative step toward the—

"By the gods! Ralof, he's a vampire!" The sound of Gerdur's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, he doesn't drink blood!" Mikasa hastily answered before Eren could open his mouth to speak. "He's harmless…for now."

"She's right." Ralof had taken a seat at a nearby small, wooden table. "He had a good chance for me when I found him in Helgen. Never tried for my blood once!"

Gerdur shot one final glance at Eren before turning her attention back to her brother. Taking her seat in another chair across that table from Ralof, Gerdur began to listen to the soldier's account of his escape from Helgen.

"It was like nothing I've ever seen, Gerdur! A dragon…at Helgen! I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't been there myself! His scales could cut through steel, and he was huge…. By the gods, he was huge!"

"And what about your friends?" A brown-haired man entered the room, followed by a young, potato-faced boy. "Were they supposed to go to the chopping block?"  
"No, Hod," Ralof answered. "The boy, Eren, came into Helgen after everything settled. He gave me some of his healing potion, and we decided to travel together."

"And Ulfric…. Was he—?"

"It'll take more than a dragon to stop Ulfric, Gerdur. I'm sure he's fine." Ralof began to slump in his chair, his eyes slowly closing. "The important thing is…."

He never finished his sentence, and in seconds, the Stormcloak soldier's snores echoed through the house. The young boy crept from behind Hod and made his way to Ralof, dark eyes glimmering with excitement.

"Uncle Ralof…." he began before Gerdur grabbed his hand and guided him away from the sleeping man.

"Hush, Frodnar. This isn't the time for your games. Now, go back to bed, and tomorrow, I want you to watch the Southern road for Imperial soldiers," Gerdur whispered as she began to lead the child away from the small group that had congregated in her kitchen.

"I'll help see to our guests." Hod gave a friendly nod to Eren and Mikasa.

"Help them drink up our mead, you mean," Gerdur scoffed, although her eyes glimmered with amusement. "I'm just going to put Frodnar to bed. I'll be back in a moment…."

As she disappeared around a corner leading to what Eren assumed was the bedroom, Hod approached the kettle of cheese and pulled out the wheel.

"I couldn't help but notice you eyeing this," he chuckled, grinning at Eren. "So, you like goat cheese?"

"I don't know. I've never eaten it before," Eren replied, swallowing to keep his saliva from dripping onto the floor. "It smells good, though…."

"He's lying. He's had it thousands of times before." Concern spread across Mikasa's face as she stared at the dark-haired boy. "Eren, are you sure—?"  
"I'm _fine!"_ Eren growled as he yanked his wrist out of Mikasa's grip.

Blood rushed into the veins in his hand, sending the wave of uncomfortable prickling through his fingers. Gasping, Eren held his hand and shook it.

 _Anything to get rid of this! Damn it, I hate when this happens! Why can't Mikasa just let me—?! Oh…that's right…._

"I would like some of that cheese, please." He shook his head and turned to face Hod, still clutching his numbed hand.

"How…how can you smell this?" Hod asked as he set the cheese on the table and grabbed a knife, eyes widened in amazement. "I know goat cheese has a strong taste, but…."

"He's been doing that," Mikasa answered. "We think it's part of his sickness." She gestured to Eren's eyes with her hand. "He hasn't tried to drink blood yet, so you don't need to worry about him, and we're going to a doctor in Morthal who can treat him."

"I see…." Hod murmured, cutting a slice out of the wheel of cheese with his knife. "I hope you make it in time. I'd heard the vampires were getting worse on the roads. Soldiers going missing…bodies found in the forest…. Even if he has red eyes…. I've heard vampires are pretty territorial. Covens fight all the time. And then there are the rogues…."

"You know a lot about vampires for a normal villager. Do you travel?" Mikasa sat down at the table.

"Oh, no. I have a mill to help run. But I had a friend who liked to go on adventures. He had a bad meeting with a lone vampire and was bitten. He set off to be cured, too." Hod handed Eren a slice of cheese.

"So, what happened?" Eren asked, sinking his teeth into his strong-tasting meal.

Hod's eyes suddenly darkened, and he turned away from his guests.

"He died."


	7. Chapter 7

Eren stood on the sloping pathway, his face bathed by the salmon-pink light of the rising sun. Squinting at what Hod had called "one of the largest cities in Skyrim," he shook his head.

 _This is large?_

Although more than twice the size of Riverwood, Whiterun's stone walls and feeble enforcements would never hold against the crushing blow of a titan. Not a single cannon gleamed in the sunlight, and none of the ant-like guards wore ODM gear.

"Mikasa?" Eren asked, pointing at the defenseless city. "Where's their ODM gear?"

"ODM gear?" Mikasa cocked her head at him, eyes full of concern. "Eren, we've been over this. I don't know what you're talking about. Has your fever—?"

"I'm fine," he sighed. "I'm not a kid, Mikasa!"

"Do you remember what Gerdur told us to tell the Jarl?"

"'Tell the Jarl that you saw a dragon in Helgen and that it was heading this way,'" Eren repeated as he began to make his way down the main road into the golden plains of Whiterun. "We've been over this five times now! I know what I'm doing!"

"Eren…." Mikasa grabbed his shoulder. "This is the _Jarl._ If you don't say or do the right things, he'll throw you in the dungeon. We don't know how long you have left before you turn, and it could take—"

"I said I'm fine, dammit!" he growled, snatching his arm away from her. "I can do this!"

Mikasa began to open her mouth, but quickly closed it again and shook her head before allowing him to lead the way to Whiterun's gates. As they silently continued their journey, Eren reflected upon Hod's detailed story of finding his friend's body.

 _"_ _One of the worst things I ever saw. He wanted me to go with him…get some help from that mage in Morthal, but I couldn't. Frodnar was sick at the time, and I couldn't leave him. I told him to wait until Frodnar was better, so that I could go with him. Even a vampire has to deal with covens and wild animals. But he didn't listen to me. We found him about a week later, or what was left of him: a leg, two hands, and a skull! It looked like wolves had killed him, but…vampires are strong. A pack of wolves, even a large pack, couldn't kill a vampire. There's something out there…. I don't know what it is, but something or someone killed Olferst…and it's still out there…waiting…."_

The young cadet shook his head, struggling to keep the image of Olferst's bloody remains from filling his mind.

"By the way…" Mikasa murmured. "I bought this for you while I was at the merchant's shop." She pulled a black hood out of her fur backpack and handed it to him. "Put it on."

"Why?" Eren asked, running his fingers over the rough fabric. "What is this?"

"It's a hood. You need to put it on, so the guards won't keep us from coming into the city. If they think you're a vampire, they'll kill you. …Are you sure you're fine?" Mikasa stretched her hand toward his forehead. "You look like—"

"How many times do I have to tell you I feel fine?!" he snarled in reply as he slipped the hood over his head. "You can stop treating me like a kid!"

"…Is there a problem here?"

Eren quickly turned his attention to the source of the voice. A well-toned man stood before him, one hand carrying a wooden shield and the other tightly gripping a steel sword. The guard's shield shared the same faded yellow as the ragged sash adorning his thick armor, sporting the dark brown emblem of a horse's head. Steel sword gripped tightly by his large hands, he gazed at them through a silver helmet.

Eren could not discern any facial features beneath the seemingly impenetrable armor. Two black holes stared emotionlessly at him as he returned the guard's gaze. Not even the man's eyes were visible under the shadow of his helmet.

"No, there isn't." Mikasa spoke before Eren could open his mouth. "We're just on our way to Whiterun."

"If you want to get into Whiterun, the city's closed by the order of the Jarl," the guard answered. "We've heard that a dragon has destroyed Helgen."

"We know! We saw it!" Eren quickly replied. "We have news about him."

"Eren…." Mikasa grabbed his wrist.

"If you've seen a dragon, you need to see the Jarl at once." The armored man sheathed his sword and lowered his shield. "I'll take you there, myself."

"Thank you," Mikasa murmured, giving him a polite nod.

The guard said nothing else as he turned his attention to the path leading to the city of Whiterun, his hand still gripping the hilt of his sheathed weapon. Mikasa reluctantly followed, clinging tightly to Eren's wrist.

Eren growled in frustration as his companion dragged him behind her.

 _Damn it, my hand's going to feel weird again! And why didn't she let me speak? I could've explained everything by myself!_

Another growl rumbled in his throat, and he was met by the worried gazes of Mikasa and the Whiterun guard.

 _At least, I think he looks worried. It's hard to tell with that helmet he has on…._

"By the Nine, what was that?!" the guard gasped as he slowly began to pull his sword out of its leather sheath.

"He does that sometimes," Mikasa answered, giving Eren's wrist a brutal squeeze. Her fingers coiled around the knobby bone connecting Eren's arm to his hand, the constricting pain an intense reminder of her reserved strength. "Eren…."

"I'm fine!" he hissed through clenched teeth, struggling to ignore her crushing grasp. "Just let go of me!"

"We have an alchemist in town." The man serving as their escort stood before them, sword now completely unsheathed. "She could probably brew you up something for…whatever that is. Are you sure he's safe?"

"Yes," Mikasa answered. "He just becomes a little…frustrated sometimes. I promise, he won't do anything."

"He'd better not," came the only reply. "The Jarl's got enough to deal with, as it is."

A dark haze began to settle over Eren's eyes, clouding his vision. Raging flames coursed through his blood and spread heat from his heart to the tips of his fingers and toes. He felt his lips curl over his teeth in a menacing growl.

 _"_ _Pahlok joor!"_ The words effortlessly poured out of his mouth. "You dare speak to me like that?!"

He passed his tongue over his gritted teeth, and then froze.

 _Are…are my teeth…? I don't remember them being that sharp!_

He slowly touched the tip of one of his canines with a finger, gasping at the dagger-like edge that greeted him. Gasping, he drew his finger out of his mouth and stared in horror at his company. As the heat quickly retreated from his body, he felt the unholy darkness surrounding the edges of his vision fade.

 _Why do I keep doing things like this?! This…language…. How am I speaking it…understanding it?!_

"M-Mikasa?" he whispered, feeling as if a huge stone had been placed onto his chest as he met her shocked gaze.

"Eren, it's all right! You had one of your fevers, again! You'll be fine! We'll take you to the…." Mikasa's words tumbled in Eren's ears like a waterfall, each sentence almost indistinguishable from the next.

The guard's voice alone pierced her frantic reassurance:

"By Shor, forget the alchemist! Your friend needs a priest!"

* * *

"So…you were at Helgen. What happened?" Jarl Balgruuf of Whiterun gazed steadily at Eren and Mikasa with azure blue eyes, awaiting an answer.

Though the Jarl's voice never wavered, Eren knew that the man seated on the throne in Dragonsreach, Whiterun's palace, had every muscle tensed beneath his arms. Stroking his beard, Jarl Balgruuf would have seemed disinterested in his visitors to any civilian who had not witnessed the shedding of human blood.

 _I saw it when we fought the titans in Trost. My team…. They all had that look, too—muscles locked up. The tension when you know you're going to die!_

"I wasn't there when it happened," Eren replied.

 _Finally, I'm allowed to talk!_

The young cadet shot a wayward glance at Mikasa before returning his attention to the Jarl. Upon being escorted by the guard into Balgruuf's majestic, wooden palace, Eren and Mikasa had been met with the sharp sword of a gray-skinned woman dressed in leather armor. They had stood in front of the throne, facing the sharpened steel of a fatal weapon, until the Jarl had waved his fierce bodyguard back to her position at his left. Mikasa had hastily explained why two poor travelers had come to speak with nobility before being silenced with a wave of Balgruuf's hand.

"Let him speak for himself," the nobleman had commanded. "Let him speak."

Eren's moment of relief dissipated as he was jerked out of his recent memory by the sound of the Jarl clearing his throat.

"Well?" Jarl Balgruuf asked, resting his elbow on his throne's armrest. "What did you see?"

"I was walking to Helgen, and I saw the dragon fly out. When I opened the gates, all I saw were buildings that had been burned down. He'd destroyed the entire town, and last I saw, he was heading this way." Eren readjusted his hood, sighing as the loose fabric only flopped down over his eyes for the third time since he had donned it.

 _Stupid thing's way too big for me!_

"By Ysmir, Ireleth was right!" Balgruuf nodded to his body guard before turning his attention to a balding man standing at his right.

As the Jarl argued with his advisors on a course of action, Eren allowed the warm scents of food flooding from the kitchen to invade his nostrils…

 _Bread…vegetable soup…and MEAT!_

His mouth watered at the very thought of sinking his teeth into a savory piece of the venison he had scented. Swiping his tongue over his teeth, he took a tentative step toward the kitchen of Dragonsreach.

 _It's been so long since I've tasted meat. Even in the military, cadets like me could never hope to get any at all. Sasha actually stole some at one point, but we never got to try it…. I wonder where she is now? Where the others—_

"Eren!" Mikasa's voice came in a low hiss, and he felt the tight grip of her fingers on his wrist for what seemed to be the tenth time that day.

 _Or is this the eleventh? I've lost count!_

"Eren, what are you doing? This is the Jarl's palace. By the Nine, you can't wander around in here without his permission!" she continued. "Answer the Jarl!"

"What?" Eren cocked his head quizzically at her. "What did he say?"

"I have a job for you. Both of you." Jarl Balgruuf stood from his throne and approached Eren and Mikasa. "Follow me, and I'll take you to see my court wizard. He's been researching dragons and could use a bit of help."

Dragged across the wooden floor by Mikasa, Eren winced as the tantalizing smell of dinner left his nose. His stomach growled in protest, causing him to give a final wishful glance over his shoulder at the entrance to the kitchen. Struggling to ignore the pair of long tables that had been decorated with ornate, creamy yellow tablecloths and silver dinnerware, he reluctantly began to take steps behind his companion, instead of acting as a dead weight to be hauled to its destiny.

"Farengar, I have some guests that might be able to help you." Jarl Balgruuf straightened his thick, fur-lined garments, as if nothing had happened. As if he were coming for simple business and not thinking about the impending doom a dragon would bring to his city.

The Jarl entered a nearby room, wrinkling his nose as he walked into it. Though he had not yet followed the nobleman into Farengar's lair, Eren immediately did the same.

A thick, musty stench permeated the air of the mage's laboratory, burning Eren's nose. Covering his nose and mouth with a hand, the young cadet attempted to keep that morning's breakfast of warm bread and goat cheese from reappearing.

 _It's like Hange's lab all over again!_

Eren peered into the small room that the Jarl had entered before being tugged into the stagnant air by Mikasa.

 _All of the glass bottles and wires! And what's all that?  
_ He shifted his attention to a small, blue stand set atop a large table. A thorny, twisted root sat on the top miniature shelf, accompanied by a slender bottle filled with crimson liquid and sealed with a cork. He could feel his hand instinctively stretching toward the strange object…and the sharp slap of Mikasa's chilly fingers against his knuckles. Whipping his head toward her, Eren heard the light shuffling of Farengar's feet against the ground as the bony, robed mage emerged from a tiny room branching from the laboratory. Face almost completely shadowed by his dusky blue attire, Farengar stared at his visitors with narrowed gray-green eyes.

"Ah, yes. Let me speak to them…." he rasped in a high-pitched voice before directing his gaze solely on the pair of visitors. "I may have a job that would suit your particular talents…."


	8. Chapter 8

"Is someone there?!" The high-pitched voice rang out in the still air of the crumbling remains of Bleak Falls Barrow.

Eren raced over the chilly stone, following the desperate cry. Panting, he stood before a small entryway blocked by a thick swathe of spider web.

 _But I've never seen anything like this before! The spiders I played with when I was little never got much bigger than a coin. What kind of spider could've made this?_

He had been wandering through the crumbling tomb with Mikasa for a couple of hours, searching for the main chamber, where the Dragonstone, the artifact Farengar had tasked the pair of cadets to recover, lay hidden.

 _And Mikasa wasn't happy to hear about where it was, either._

"Eren!" The dark-haired girl now stood beside him, her sword still glistening with the blood of the bandits that had been waiting for them outside of the ancient crypt. "We don't know if this is a trap. Please, just stay put for now!"

"Hello?!" the voice continued as silence engulfed the ruins. "Help me! Please! Somebody get me down from here!"

"He needs our help, Mikasa!" Eren pointed at the mass of web blocking the entryway.

"Eren…." Mikasa whispered, shaking her head. "Just…promise me you'll stay here while I take care of this."

"I'm tired of letting you do all the fighting for me!" Eren placed his hand on the hilt of the new iron sword dangling from his hip.

Unstained by blood, the weapon had been bought from one of Whiterun's local blacksmiths, Adrianne Avenicci. Although simple in design, it could still pierce weak armor and slice through flesh and bone.

"I can do this!" he continued. "Just let me fight!"

"It's too dangerous," Mikasa replied as she lifted her sword and began to slice at the thick web. "You might start having another fever."

Eren's gaze darkened as he watched her sword effortlessly slash through the remains of the sticky strands. Narrowing his eyes, he shot through the newly-cleared entrance and slid his sword out of its sheath. He smiled at the shrill sound of the blade emerging from its holding place.

Only seconds after he readied his weapon, a low-pitched chittering echoed above him. A mouse-brown spider descended from the chamber's ceiling, dagger-sized fangs dripping with clear venom. More than twice Eren's size, it stared tauntingly at the young cadet with eight midnight-black eyes. The beast raised both of its front legs as it approached him.

"EREN!" Mikasa was nothing but a blur as she shoved him out of the deadly arachnid's reach.

Upon his unceremonious collision with a nearby egg case, Eren regained his footing. His indignant growl echoed in the chamber as he sprang at the monstrous spider's side.

"Eren, stop! Don't—!" Mikasa's warning came too late as one of the creature's warhammer-like legs met Eren's stomach.

The chestnut-haired boy grunted in pain, struggling to keep his fingers gripped around his weapon as he collapsed onto the stony floor.

 _It's worse than Reiner's punch!_

Eren remembered the painful blow that Reiner had given him during a hand-to-hand combat session while they had been training for the military. The legendary punch had sent him skidding along the dusty ground of the training field, knocking the breath out of his lungs.

 _But this! I think I've broken a couple of ribs!_

"EREN!" Mikasa's shriek snatched him from his memory and back into the painful present.

The spider had lost interest in Mikasa and was now racing toward him, legs tensing for a leap.Struggling for breath, he glared icily at his eight-legged enemy: the only thing that he could do.

The creature pounced, fangs ready to sink into Eren's flesh and fill his veins with paralyzing venom….

 _No!_

Squeezing the hilt of his sword, he lifted it over his chest, blade pointed upward. He could hear nothing but the rapid pulsations of his heart as he thrust the sharp iron into the spider's exposed abdomen. Without any bone to hinder its progress, the blade continued its journey through the arachnid's body, only stopping once the hilt made contact with the beast's furry exoskeleton.

The spider gave a final chitter as the life in its eyes faded into emptiness. Legs already crumpling in death, Eren's enemy lay on top of him. Its fangs rested only a few centimeters away from his shoulder, still dripping the fatal venom.

"Don't move!"

Relief washed over Eren as Mikasa's nervous command echoed in the stale air. Sighing, he allowed her to pull the corpse off of him. His quivering hands still clutched the hilt of his sword, and he watched as the now-filthy blade made its way out of its kill. Covered in forest-green slime, the weapon no longer shone brightly in the little light the ancient crypt's hallways received.

"What in Oblivion were you thinking?! You could've been killed!" Mikasa's strong grasp on his shoulders made him wince in pain.

 _I'm going to be sore for a long time…or at least until I find another healing potion._

"Mikasa…." he groaned, gritting his teeth at the relentless ache in his ribs.

 _And my guts!_

"You're hurt! Here…." Mikasa reached into her backpack and pulled out the familiar bottle of crimson liquid. "You're lucky I went by that alchemist's shop and bought five of these before we came."

"Thanks," Eren murmured breathlessly, unable to say another word as he reached for the potion.

He popped the lid off of the bottle and gulped its contents, struggling to control his gag reflex at the liquid's metallic taste.

 _What's this stuff made of, anyway?!_

The intense nausea following his consumption of the brew began with the odd muffling of Mikasa's voice. Every sound he heard seemed to be blocked by a thick wall, as if he had put his ears to an empty stone tower in order to eavesdrop on its inhabitants. Closing his eyes tightly, he pleaded for his queasiness to end.

 _Just make it stop! Come on…._

After a few more seconds of his sickness, Eren rose from the chilly floor. His stomach no longer felt as if it had been relocated to his chest, and his ribs no longer ached with every breath he drew.

"Hey, you!" The high-pitched voice Eren had heard before the spider attack cried.

Swinging his head to face the source of the sound, Eren stiffened at the sight of a bandit bound tightly in a mass of web stretched over the chamber's exit. The stranger's narrow eyes locked with Eren's own fiery gaze: eyes as red as blood.

 _Just like mine!_

"You did it. You killed it. Now cut me down before anything else shows up!" The thief's words tumbled out of his mouth like a waterfall.

"Are…are you a vampire?" Eren asked as he approached the bandit.

"I beg your pardon?" The thief furrowed his thin, dark eyebrows. "I'm a Dunmer. Oh, wait. I've forgotten some of you Nords are too stupid to know what that is."

"Don't speak to him like that!" Mikasa's voice rang out behind Eren, followed by the sound of her sword being unsheathed. "Now, tell us why you and your friends are in this crypt!"

"Nords?" Eren's question seemed as if it never reached Mikasa's or the bandit's ears.

 _All of these things I don't know, and no one will take the time to explain them! It's like…like I should know them, but…._

"Go on…talk. Or do I have to use this?" Mikasa pointed her weapon threateningly at the stranger's narrow chest.

"All right! My name is Arvel. Arvel the Swift. At your service. I would bow, but I'm stuck," the bandit replied. "If you want to get into the treasure room, you won't be able to without the claw."

"Claw?" Mikasa asked, eyes narrowed at the thief.

"The golden claw," Arvel replied. "And I know how it works! The claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories! Help me down, and I'll show you. You won't believe the power the Nords have hidden there!"

"Of course!" Eren lifted his sword over his head, ready to slice through the wall of web.

"Eren, wait!" Mikasa's voice had barely made its way to the young cadet's ears when his blade slashed through the spider's sticky silk.

Eren watched as the bandit fell to the ground after only a couple more swings of his sword, smiling warmly. As soon as Arvel had been completely disentangled from the swath of webbing, the chestnut-haired boy reached a hand toward the skinny Dunmer. A hand that was blatantly ignored.

"You fool! Why should I share the treasure with anyone?" Arvel chuckled as he darted into the darkness of the crypt's lower chambers.

Eren grunted as he felt Mikasa bump into his shoulder. In the shadows of the next chamber, he observed the faint outline of her grabbing at the back of the thief's hide armor. Then came the frustrated sigh that he had heard ever since Mikasa had first come to live in the Jaeger household.

 _I guess that's why he's called Arvel the Swift._

"Eren, how could you do that?!" Mikasa shook her head as she emerged from the entryway leading deeper into the ancient tomb. "You can't just trust people like this!"

"But he needed help…." Eren murmured, staring into the blackness into which Arvel had disappeared. "And he said—"

"People lie! I know it's hard for you to understand, but this isn't our home. You can't just trust every stranger you meet! We talked about this…." she whispered as she gently took his hand that still clung to his sword and began to guide it toward the blade's sheath.

"But…."

 _But why would another human lie to us?_

A fearful shriek pierced the air, and he started at the sound that he knew too well.

 _A human scream. Arvel's met something down there! Could it be a titan?!_

Heart racing, Eren peered into the depths of the crypt, alert for the sight of a giant pair of round eyes, the sound of human flesh being torn by monstrous teeth…or the scent of blood. Nothing shone out of the inky shadows of the tomb's lower chambers, and the distinctive crack of bone being crushed between teeth did not ring through the hallways. The reek of blood, however, permeated the air, filling his nostrils with its metallic tang. Blood…and death.

Shoving Mikasa out of his way, he raced into the darkness. If Mikasa said anything at all, he never heard the words leaving her mouth.

"I'm coming!" Eren called out, already knowing that he was too late to save the bandit.

Arvel's screams had already ceased, swallowed by the crypt's relentless stillness. Nothing but the blackness of the depths of Bleak Falls Barrow greeted Eren as he charged through the remnants of the spider web that had held the thief. Thankful that Mikasa had not managed to sheathe his sword, the young cadet kept his weapon thrust ahead of him.

 _Whatever's down there will have to face this before they can get to me!_

Dim candlelight greeted him as he sped into a larger chamber, hanging above him on dark, twisted chandeliers. Though still made of stone, the walls sported cavities large enough to fit a grown man. In each shallow niche lay a well-decomposed body, from bits of weathered bone that would all fit in Eren's hand to entire corpses, their steel blue flesh and scanty armor barely covering their skeletal frames.

Their stench plagued his nose, and he gagged as soon as the first whiff entered his nostrils. Lipless faces stretched into expressions of anger and fear, the bodies reminded him of the toothy maw of a titan.

 _And that one…with the smile…. It looks like—_

Warm, salty tears began to trickle down his cheeks as he gazed at the nearby remains of a female warrior. Clothed only by tattered rags, the corpse glared emptily at him through black sockets where eyes used to exist.

 _It looks like the one that killed Mom!_

"Eren!" Mikasa's sharp whisper broke him away from his memories. Grabbing his wrist in the familiar, uncomfortable hold, she yanked him away from the body. "Get away from there!"

"M-Mikasa?" He shook his head and stared at her confusedly. "Wha—?"

The dark-haired girl covered his mouth and pointed to a freshly slain corpse lying in a narrow entryway a few meters away from them. Arvel the Swift lay on the stone floor in an ever-increasing pool of blood, deep gashes marring his chest and shoulders.

A humanoid figure stood over the lifeless Dunmer, the pale green handle of a bloodstained war axe clutched in its bony fingers. Giving a raspy sound that seemed to be a mixture between a growl and a cough, the creature glared at the pair of humans who had ventured into his chamber with pupils of glacial, blue light. Teeth gritted into a snarl, he lifted his weapon above his head and pointed at Eren and Mikasa with his other hand. His rusty armor, ruined by countless years of decay, clung tightly to what was left of his flesh.

The shuffling of feet against stone echoed in the stillness of the crypt, and Eren turned his head to watch as the body that he had been studying stand and snatch an ancient bow from its resting place on her back. Readying her weapon with a thorn-sharp arrow from her weathered quiver, she approached. Her eyes matched the color of the axe wielder, emanating the same frigid light.

"Just what I thought," Mikasa whispered. "Draugr…."


	9. Chapter 9

"Run!"

The only word Eren heard Mikasa say before being shoved toward a hallway leading deeper into the crypt. The only thing he heard before the female draugr released the arrow from its taut position.

The entire world seemed to become a meaningless blur as he raced through the chamber. He could hear the hoarse call of another bony threat from behind him, but he was unable to turn his head to find its icy pair of pale eyes.

 _Mikasa's not going to let me!_

"Keep going! AND WATCH OUT!" the dark-haired girl commanded as she thrusted him into a stony wall.

Before Eren could reply, he whipped his head toward the sound of metal against stone. All three of the weathered pursuers lay in a messy heap on the floor, their bodies twisted into odd positions. Though no blood pooled around them, the light in their sockets had faded. An enormous metal grate retreated from the pile of corpses, creaking ominously before finding its resting place centimeters away from the wall opposite Eren and Mikasa's place of refuge. Its rusted spikes, still sharp enough to kill after thousands of years of decay, stood in tight rows like a titan's teeth.

 _What was that?!_

"Trap." Mikasa's voice came in a breathless whisper. "I forgot most of these old tombs have them. Be careful where you step. That's probably not the only one, but at least it took care of the draugr."

"Draugr?" Eren stared at the skeletal warriors that had sought to greet him with an axe blade in his skull and an arrow through his heart.

"Undead warriors who guard ancient Nordic tombs," Mikasa replied. "Unless you know how to sneak past them, they wake up. It's why most people avoid going into places like this. Don't you remember your mother explaining them to you?"

"They look like titans…." he whispered, shuddering at the bodies' toothy mouths.

"Oh, Eren…."

He braced himself for another scolding, another "What in Oblivion are titans?!" To his surprise, Mikasa's exasperating denial of the existence of titans never came. He turned to face her, cocking his head in confusion at his companion.

Mikasa sighed deeply before slowly rising from the stony floor. She reached her hand toward him, but he swatted her offer for help away from him.

"I can get up by myself," he complained as he stood. "And how are we going to be able to fight, if you hold onto me the whole time?"

Mikasa never spoke, only gave a silent nod and readied the iron sword that had remained in the tight grasp of her dominant hand.

 _Wait…my sword!_

"Damn it!" Eren growled after scanning the floor for any sign of his weapon. "My sword! I think I lost it!"

"Here," Mikasa replied, handing him her blade. "Take mine."

"But what are you going to do? You need one, too."

"One of those draugr had a sword. Besides, that thief said we won't be able to get into the treasure room without the golden claw. Stay right here. If I trigger the trap, I want you to run as fast as you can. Take my pack…." She slid her backpack off of its resting place between her shoulders and thrust it into his arms.

Eren stumbled under the additional weight of her bag of supplies. With Mikasa's sword still in his hand, he awkwardly balanced her backpack on his arms. After a few seconds of struggling, he managed to sheathe his new weapon and sling the load of camping gear and healing potions over his shoulder.

Panting after his miniature battle with the supplies, he focused on Mikasa. Her tentative steps made almost no sound against the floor as she approached the pile of fallen draugr. After a few seconds of observation, she snatched a purplish-black blade from the midst of the corpses and sprang away from the perilous area. As soon as she had escaped the range of the treacherous spikes, she tiptoed to Arvel's remains. The golden claw rested on its side centimeters from the dead thief's hand, partially soaked in blood. Mikasa quickly grabbed what Arvel the Swift claimed to be the sole key to the barrow's main chamber. She took a deep breath before streaking across the perilous strip of stone containing the pressure plate that could trigger the crypt's trap. The sinister contraption never flew from its resting place, but the rapid pulsations of her heart echoed in his ears.

 _How can I hear that?!_

"Are you okay?" he asked, unstrapping a water skin from the side of her backpack. He gently removed the blood-covered claw and slipped it into the bag before placing the container of life-giving liquid into her now-free hand. "Your heart…it's beating pretty fast."

"You…you can hear it?!" Mikasa dropped the water skin, allowing its precious contents to spill onto the floor. "Eren…open your mouth!"

"Why?"

"Just open your mouth! We don't have time for this!" she commanded, her voice rising in pitch.

Before Eren could respond, the familiar rasp of the undead pierced the air, and he felt Mikasa's hand over his mouth. A single pair of cold pools of light peered from the darkness of the crypt's depths, followed by three more piercing gazes of what seemed to be anger.

Another horde of draugr had found the pair of intruders and were now approaching their easy prey. Swords and axes rose into the air, gripped by bony fingers. The clattering of blades was joined by a host of insults in an ancient tongue.

"I…I don't think I can fight them off! A couple of bandits wandering around on their own is one thing, but this…." Mikasa gently walked Eren backward, keeping her body in front of his in order to shield him from arrows that could be fired at any moment. "Eren, as soon as we get past that trap, I want you to run! I'll distract them as long as I can."

"I'm not leaving you here to die!" He glared at the advancing group of undead, the beginnings of a growl forming in his throat.

"Eren, you're sick! Don't—!"

The crude insults of the ancient warriors drowned Mikasa's voice, assaulting Eren's ears.

 _"_ _Bolog aaz, mal lir!"_

 _"_ _Kren Sosaal!"_

 _"_ _Aav dilon!"_

The meanings of the words were as clear to him as if someone had said them in the common tongue:

 _"_ _Beg for mercy, little worm!"_

 _"_ _Break and bleed!"_

 _"_ _Join the dead!"_

Another voice rose above the taunts, its familiar dark tone reverberating in his mind.

 **"** **Daar sahlo joorre dreh paak. Drun niin quiilan!"**

 _"_ _Those weak mortals act shamefully! Make them bow to you!"_

Baring his teeth, Eren shoved Mikasa aside and approached the draugr. His fiery gaze flitted across each undead warrior—

 _No! Not warriors! Servants!_

 _"_ _Quillan!"_ His deep bellow echoed throughout the chambers of the crypt. _"Quillan, uv dir!"_

He unsheathed his sword and raised it above his head. The iron blade gleamed dimly in what little light the tomb's candles offered. Nostrils flared and eyebrows lowered, he continued to make his way toward the horde of undead. His feet thudded heavily against the floor, marching to a long-forgotten rhythm. Stopping centimeters away from what seemed to be the leader of the group, Eren sighed deeply through his nose.

Immediately, all of the draugr lowered their weapons and kneeled before the young cadet. Their eyes seemed to hold a terror as old as life itself as they submitted, each pair dimming to a faint glow.

After a final nod, Eren turned his back to the ancient warriors and trudged to Mikasa's landing place beside a nearby wall. Numbness had seized his body, his muscles dead weight as he dragged himself onward. Flopping down beside Mikasa, he allowed an odd mix between a groan and a sigh to escape him. The deep voice had receded from his head, leaving him in a thick haze of confusion.

 _What is this? Why does it keep coming to me? …And why does it feel so right?_

"Eren, are you all right?!"

"Huh?" Jolted out of his haze by the chill of Mikasa's hand against his forehead, he shifted his gaze to the dark-haired girl. "I…think so…?"

"What you did…. It stopped the draugr," she whispered, nodding to the group of undead behind him. "They're not trying to attack us…."

Eren turned to face the ancient warriors. Every skeletal figure lay face-down on his stomach, not even daring to lift his gaze from the floor. None of them had kept their weapons unsheathed; some of the draugr had even thrown their weapons onto the floor in front of them.

A sour scent crept into Eren's nostrils, overpowering the stench of decay. A smell that he had never detected, though he identified it immediately.

Faas… _fear…. They're afraid of me!_

"What did you do?" Mikasa's voice was barely audible.

"I…I told them to submit to me…that they would die, if they didn't," he replied as he struggled to his feet, turning his attention to the horde of undead.

A single member of the group of draugr rose from his position on the floor. Eyes still cast toward the ground, he crept toward Eren before stopping at a respectful distance. He gave a single raspy cough and motioned toward the pair of invaders who had entered Bleak Falls Barrow.

Without a word, the rest of the ancient warriors stood from their submissive bows and began to surround Eren and Mikasa. Though their weapons remained sheathed, their eyes blazed coldly in the darkness of the crypt.

"What are they doing?!" Mikasa readied her sword, pointing her blade at a nearby undead warrior. "Eren—!"

The chestnut-haired boy gazed at the small army of draugr surrounding him. The scent of fear still hung heavily in the air.

"I don't think they're attacking us," he answered as he watched the ancient warriors fully assemble into a tight circle around the pair of cadets.

 _It's…it's like they're guarding us._

After a few seconds of silence, the leader of the horde of undead uttered a command in the old tongue. His subordinates at the front of the formation began to march deeper into the depths of Bleak Falls Barrow without a word.

Eren quickly followed them, head held high and eyes focused on the path ahead of him. Every one of his muscles relaxed as the draugr led the way to the crypt's inner sanctum. Upon feeling the tight squeeze of Mikasa's fingers against his arm, he bared his teeth and pried the dark-haired girl's appendages off of him.

"Just keep going," he whispered. "I think they're taking us to the treasure room. Then, we can search for the…what was the name of that thing Farengar told you he wanted?"

"The Dragonstone," she replied, shaking her head. "I don't know how we're going to find it. It'll probably be guarded, maybe sealed up in a tomb. I doubt it's just in a chest for anyone to take it."

Eren did not respond, only continued to follow the ancient warriors through winding hallways and small chambers. At first, he gasped sharply at the sight of the other undead residents of Bleak Falls Barrow stirring from their slumber in their shallow crevices, but he soon found no need to pay attention to them. The leader of the ring of guards simply waved his sword at the skeletal figures, pointing the black blade at the source of any threatening sound.

Turning to face Mikasa, Eren could say nothing to persuade her to sheathe her own weapon.

 _Maybe I shouldn't. She knows about these…draugr. But…but why don't I know?_

He slowed his pace, staring blankly ahead of him.

 _Why_ don't _I know? And why doesn't she remember the titans? We were both there at Shigonshina and Trost! It's not like she didn't see it, too. Unless…._

Closing his eyes tightly, he silently pleaded to wake up in one of the Survey Corps' rough beds. He stretched his fingers, searching fervently for the scratchy sheets that were surely beneath him. He knew he would only open his eyes to the dusty hallways of Bleak Falls Barrow and the icy stares of draugr, but he would have at least a few seconds of blissful hope….

"Eren!" Mikasa's voice jolted him from his thoughts.

"Huh?" He opened his eyes to a large chamber.

Nothing lay on the dusty stone floor except for a few dim candles and two long-forgotten burial urns. Tired cobwebs hung limply from the ceiling and in the corners, mangled by rock fragments and dead insects. Ancient carvings covered the walls, their complex designs reflecting the history of the people who had dwelled in the frigid lands Mikasa and he now wandered. A rounded, midnight-black door stood in between the decorated walls. Adorned with the symbols of different animals, it blocked the passageway to the deepest chambers of Bleak Falls Barrow.

"This is it," Mikasa murmured, pointing at the sealed entryway with her free hand. "We're here."

The rasp of the undead rang out in the still air, and Eren watched as the group of draugr disbanded. Shuffling across the dusty floor, they vanished into the darkness. Though the icy light of their eyes faded from view after a few seconds, Eren knew that he would always see those pairs of pale blue moons every time he looked upon a dead body.

"What was that?" Mikasa had not moved from where she stood, though her sword had been readied. "They didn't kill us."

"I don't know," Eren answered. "Whatever it was, they got us here. You said this was it, right?"

"No! Something's not right! This has to be a trap!" She edged toward the darkness where the last pair of pale blue eyes had disappeared. "They've probably led us to a false door, but…. This looks like the Hall of Stories…."

"Huh?" Eren cocked his head quizzically. "Hall of Stories?"

"A long time ago, Nords carved their histories into certain walls in their tombs," she replied, nodding to the images covering the pale stone. "Could you please hand me the claw? You still have my backpack."

"Sure." Eren dug through her bag of supplies and pulled out the golden claw.

The artifact's warm, golden hue reminded Eren of the illustrations of hoards of treasure in one of the books that Armin had read. Images of piles of coins messily scattered inside of ancient rooms and forgotten caves, all gleaming warmly in their dimly-lit holds, filled his mind.

 _But that's not all. Armin always showed me the pictures in his books, and he even let me read a few pages sometimes…. Never found it as interesting as he did, but…. How is he? Is he even alive?_

Eren shuddered, hearing the frantic pounding of his heart in the eerie silence of the barrow. Eager to cast away the doubts of Armin's wellbeing, he allowed Mikasa's brief explanation of the walls' ancient carvings…and the question that she had not bothered to answer when they has met Arvel the Swift.

"Mikasa…what's a Nord?" His voice echoed around him as he spoke, and he flinched at his breaking of the ancient crypt's stillness.

"They're the people of Skyrim," the dark-haired girl explained, keeping her voice at a whisper. "You're a Nord, because your parents came from Skyrim."

"Arvel didn't seem too happy about it."

"Many of the Nords living here treat the dark elves very badly, especially in Windhelm." She dropped her gaze from Eren to the golden claw she held in her hand. She had sheathed her sword and was now studying the supposed key to the treasure room. "…There has to be something we're missing. I know the claw has to fit there…."

She walked toward the blocked entryway and hovered the golden artifact's talons over a silver plate that had been embedded into the center of the door. Underneath the sharp tips were three tiny holes.

"Why would they do that?" Eren could not help but ask, eyes widened in shock. "The Nords? We can't fight with each other! Not when it's bad enough, as it is!"

"Eren…." Mikasa gave a long, heavy sigh. "I don't know. I can't tell you why. It's not important right now. We need to get out of this tomb before something else happens."

Eren opened his mouth to protest, but he quickly closed it again and nodded.

 _She's right. Those draugr might come back, if we stay too long._

"This claw has animal carvings on it," she continued, turning the golden claw upside down to reveal the tiny creatures engraved into its palm. "And they match the ones on the door…."

Mikasa gently touched the animal carving sitting just above the key plate, sighing in relief as the tiny image slid to the left. The engraving of a bee quickly took its place above the three holes.

"If we match the symbols, we can—"

Eren heard nothing more from her, inhaling sharply at what seemed to be a faint whisper emanating from the other side of the door. He could not distinguish any words, and yet...he knew the message embedded within the deep murmurings.

 _"Come..."_

He barely saw the door gradually disappear into the ground, barely felt his feet pounding against the ground. Only one thing mattered to him, as he charged into the main chamber of Bleak Falls Barrow:

 _Find the voice…._


	10. Chapter 10

Eren clenched his teeth as he raced over a small, weathered bridge and onto a large, stone platform. The faint whisper that had first attracted his attention had grown into an endless, earth-shattering roar. Growling, he covered his ears with his hands, but he could do nothing to keep himself from continuing his quest to find the source of the unbearable voice. He closed his eyes tightly, silently pleading for the nightmarish bellowing to cease.

 _Make it stop! Damn it!_

After what seemed to be three eternities of agony, a single word burst from the clamor. It reverberated inside of his skull, pulsated through his chest, rattled his very being.

 _"_ _Fus!"_

Eren flung his eyes open to a short, rounded wall of stone.

 _What the hell?!_

Panting for breath, he placed a sweaty hand on the ancient rock and sighed in relief at the chilly surface beneath his palm. The excruciating roar had abruptly ended, replaced by the eerie silence of the crypt.

"Eren!" Mikasa's voice cut through the blissful stillness like a blade through a titan's nape.

"Huh?" He shifted his gaze from the slab of stone supporting him to the dark-haired girl.

"What in Oblivion were you thinking?!" she scolded. "You can't go running off like this in a tomb! Oh, Eren! It was another fever, wasn't it?! Damn it, I knew we shouldn't have wasted time on this! I should've left you in—"

Mikasa never had time to finish her worried rambling. The floor rumbled beneath the pair of young cadets, staggering them.

Eren whipped his head over his shoulder to a midnight-black coffin that rested behind him. Heart pounding, he watched wide-eyed as the stone lid of the sarcophagus flew over the platform.

The coffin's seal landed in a shallow, rock-filled stream-bed with an adrenaline-invoking splash. Only a heartbeat later, the bony hand of a draugr stretched from the box's interior. The glacial stare of the undead met Eren's gaze in the dim light, filled with bloodlust. Muttering crude insults in his raspy tongue, the ancient warrior emerged from his resting place. As soon as he had swung his feet over the lip of the sarcophagus, he yanked a massive battle-axe from its sheath on his back. The weapon's purplish-black blade glimmered eerily in the darkness of the crypt, its frigid, pale blue light matching the eyes of its owner.

"Eren!"

The chestnut-haired boy felt Mikasa's hands against his shoulders and the sensation of weightlessness before the scrape of the stone floor against his face, hands, and knees. Only a heartbeat after his fall came the sharp clang of metal against rock. Lifting his gaze, Eren caught a glimpse of the axe's head sticking out of the place where he had stood.

"Are you all right?" Mikasa panted from beside him.

The young cadet gave her a small nod before unsheathing his iron sword and scrambling from the floor, teeth bared. Though his palms stung from that scrapes he had received, he clung fervently to the hilt of his blade.

Without waiting for his companion to utter a word, Eren charged toward the draugr, aiming for the vulnerable flesh between the skeletal warrior's ribs. His blade met the sturdy handle of the undead enemy's battle-axe, lodging itself in the weathered wood. The ancient weapon groaned under his weight, and stinging splinters lodged themselves into his fingers, but he clung fiercely to the hilt of his sword.

 _I can't let go! If I do, he'll kill me!_

His forearms ached as he continued his struggle with the ancient warrior. Three years of military training had gifted him with solid muscle, and he could use ODM blades without thinking, but—

 _Why the hell does this feel so…off? This sword doesn't move like my titan-killing gear at all! I've never had to fight like this before. Dammit, he's strong!_

The ancient warrior's limbs, though warped by millennia of decay, gripped the battle-axe's handle as if they were attached to it by flesh. Uttering a hoarse chuckle, the draugr began to lower his powerful arms….

 _If I back out now, it'll stagger me!_

Eren's legs had already begun to quiver, and the chilly air of the tomb burned his lungs with each breath. As the undead warlord's face drew closer to his own, he gagged. The unbearable reek of death burned his nose, and he would have growled, if he had been able to dedicate some of his breath to verbal communication.

 _In. Out. In. Out. Focus on your breathing. Don't think about that cramping in your wrists, or the sore feeling in your legs! …Damn it!_

Already, his arms had begun to lower, and he braced himself for the final pain of the ancient blade in his skull or spine….

"Get away from him!" Mikasa's war cry rang above the draugr's otherworldly rasps and Eren's ragged panting.

The young cadet stared wide-eyed at the furious, dark-haired girl. Mikasa now stood only centimeters away from the ancient warrior's side, her sword buried up to its hilt in between two of the skeletal monster's ribs.

Screeching, the living corpse stumbled sideways, though he never dropped his great axe.

Eren gritted his teeth as he felt his body being dragged over the stone floor. Every scrape on his legs felt as if it had been touched by burning coals.

 _No, not touched. Buried in them!_

"Eren, let go!" she commanded. "Get away from him!"

"No…." Eren gasped, gripping his sword's hilt, as if he were holding open the jaws of a titan for a comrade. "I'm…not letting…you die! I can…do this!"

He did not need to turn and face her to know that the rough fingers at the back of his neck were hers. That the clang of metal against stone was her weapon being flung to the ground. Wincing at his aching muscles and the small cuts he had recently acquired, he could feel the dead weight of the draugr in his cramping hands and the steady pulling of Mikasa's iron grasp in his tunic's collar.

"By the gods, let go!" The dark-haired girl curled her fingers so deeply into the fur, Eren wondered if the armor would rip. "If you don't, you'll fall! LET GO NOW!"

Inhaling sharply, Eren shakily released his sword, using his teeth to pry his clammy, aching appendages. As soon as the final finger had been unwrapped from the iron hilt, he peered over the small ledge that dropped off only a couple of centimeters away from him.

 _I wouldn't have been hurt that bad, if I'd fallen. Maybe a few bruises, but that's it. Would've gotten wet, though._

He shivered at the sight of the ankle-deep stream trickling less than a couple of meters below him. Skyrim's biting cold and unpredictable weather could kill a man in thick fur clothing in minutes. Wearing soaked armor in the frigid mountains where Bleak Falls Barrow had been built would be incredibly dangerous, if not fatal.

"He's dead."

"I could've—" Eren quickly closed his mouth as soon as he turned to face her.

Mikasa now stood beside the empty coffin, her arms wrapped around a large, stone tablet. Ice-blue eyes full of concern, she approached the chestnut-haired boy and awkwardly offered one of her hands to him.

"What's that?" he asked, shoving the pale appendage away from him.

Wincing, he slowly rose from the ground. Every muscle burned in protest, but he refused to groan or to allow that string of curse words he had recently heard from Captain Levi to spring from his lips.

 _I don't need her treating me like a kid any more than she is already!_

"This is what we've been looking for." Mikasa tilted the artifact away from her chest, revealing ancient markings carved into its rough surface. "The Dragonstone…."

* * *

"Time is running, Farengar, don't forget. This isn't some theoretical question. Dragons have come back."

Eren cocked his head at the hooded figure standing behind Farengar's table. Seconds earlier, he had arrived at the Jarl's palace with Mikasa and had been ushered into the mage's room by one of Whiterun's several guards. As soon as he had entered the tiny laboratory, he had been greeted by the sharp scent of blood, steel, and a piercing blue stare that reminded him of the draugr patrolling the halls of Bleak Falls Barrow.

The young cadet felt Mikasa's icy fingers tug at the hood covering his head. He swatted at her hand as she pulled the rough linen over his forehead.

 _If she keeps yanking it down, I won't be able to see!_

"Yes, yes. Don't worry. Although the chance to see a living dragon up close would be tremendously valuable…. Now, let me show you something else I've found." Farengar flipped through the yellowed pages of an amber book resting on his table. "Very interesting…. I think your employers may be interested, as well—"

"You have visitors," the stranger interrupted, snapping her gaze from the pair of visitors to the mage.

"Hmm?" The hooded man glanced from his book. His gray-green eyes widened from their narrow stare of disdain at the sight of the cadets. "Ah! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow? You didn't die, it seems. Well? Where's the Stone?"

"Here," Mikasa replied, sliding her bulging backpack off of her shoulders.

After a few seconds of careful unpacking, she lifted the artifact from her bag of supplies and placed it gently on the table. Thick, gray strips of wolf hide covered the ancient stone, protecting it from the scraping tips of the golden claw.

 _The wolf I took down! And then, she yelled at me about it for half an hour! "Eren, why did you do that? You could've had another fever! You have to be careful…."_

Eren clenched his fists as he watched Farengar unwrap the precious package.

 _She wouldn't even let me help carry the damn thing back! I can take care of myself! Can't she stop hovering for five seconds?!_

"The Dragonstone! Seems you two are a cut above the usual brutes the Jarl sends me." The mage of Whiterun began to trace his fingers over the carvings engraved into the artifact's rough surface.

"You went to Bleak Falls Barrow and got that?" The hooded figure nodded to the stone tablet. "Nice work!"

"Who are you?" Eren asked, struggling to make out any facial features hidden beneath the stranger's hood.

 _Other than those eyes…._

He shuddered internally at the woman's steely stare.

 _At least, I think she's a woman. She sounds like one, anyway…._

"This? This is my…associate," Farengar answered. "She discovered the Stone's location in Bleak Falls Barrow, by means she has so far declined to share with me." The mage narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Anything else?"

"No," she replied as she made her way around the table and toward the entryway to the main hall of the palace. "Just send me a copy when you've deciphered it."

The stranger gave a nod of farewell before exiting Farengar's laboratory.

"Now, about our reward…."

Eren winced at the familiar, frigid lock of Mikasa's fingers around his wrist. He had begun walking toward the alluring smell of meat wafting from the kitchen.

"We need to leave as soon as we can," the dark-haired girl continued. "Maybe you could give us enough to pay for the supplies we used, for now? We could come by and get the rest when we…have the time…."

"You'll have to see the Jarl about that. Maybe his steward Avenicci. I'm sure one of them will pay you appropriately." Farengar gave her a dismissive wave. "Now, I have an important job to do, if you don't mind…."

"Farengar!" The armored woman who had first prevented Eren and Mikasa from speaking with Jarl Balgruuf rushed into the tiny room. "Farengar, you need to come at once! You should come, too. Both of you."

She nodded briskly to Eren and Mikasa before exiting the room. Farengar followed her without a word, his steps hindered by his robes. Eren stumbled as Mikasa raced after the Jarl's bodyguard, inhaling sharply at the force of his wrist being snatched forward.

"What is it?" he asked as they entered the main hall of Dragonsreach. "What's going on?"

Ireleth whipped her head behind her to face him. Her chilling words came in a dark murmur:

"There's a dragon nearby. It's attacked the western watchtower."


	11. Chapter 11

"Quickly!"

Eren shivered as he followed the orderly line of guards through the tangled grasses of the plains west of Whiterun. The numbing cold crept through his fingers, stiffening them, and he resisted the urge to bring warmth back into them with his breath.

 _Mikasa will make me go back to Dragonsreach if I look like I'm having a hard time._

"Come on!" Ireleth commanded from her position at the head of the line. "And keep your eyes open! That dragon could be anywhere."

Eren tilted his head to view the black void hanging over the barren plains of Whiterun like a shroud. Thick clouds had begun to loom over the distant horizon, blotting out the stars' pale light.

"Eren…."

The young cadet scowled at the sound of Mikasa's voice.

"If you're not feeling well, you need to let me know," the dark-haired girl whispered. "We can leave right now and go back to Whiterun. There's probably a carriage outside of the city walls we can—"

"The Jarl said I had to come. I'm the only one here who saw the dragon at Helgen." Eren never turned to face her, only continued to race after the guards in front of him. "I got through Bleak Falls Barrow, didn't I?!"

"And you almost _died!_ " Mikasa shot back. "That draugr would've killed you, if I hadn't been—"

"If you hadn't been there to save me! I don't need looking after, Mikasa! I've been through military training, and I've killed titans before! As soon as I figure out my powers, I'll stop this. All of this!" the chestnut-haired boy retorted. "I don't know why you can't—!"

"Quiet!" Ireleth's deep hiss sliced through the air like ODM blades through a titan's nape. "We're here…."

The Dunmer woman pointed at a fiery ruin in front of her. Large chunks of stone lay scattered about a stone tower, knocked from the turreted fortress by a malevolent force of nature. Reddish-orange fires dotted the area, blazing through the dry foliage with ease. Burning smoke billowed into the air, enveloping the hellish wreckage in a thick, putrid haze.

Eren gagged as the scent of charred flesh filled his nostrils. Human cries, muffled by the choking haze, assaulted his ears. Squinting, he began to make his way toward the distorted humanoid figures racing frantically in the carnage.

"I'm coming!" he called as he stumbled toward the inferno.

 _They'll die if they stay in the smoke for too long!_

"Eren, stop!" Mikasa's fingers clamped around his shoulder, jolting him backwards.

"But they won't make it! The smoke will kill them, if we don't do something!" Eren growled. "Let me go!"

"It's dangerous!" she cried, tightening her grip. "You don't know what's out there!"

"She's right." Ireleth walked toward them. Sword drawn, she nodded toward the smoke. "A dragon has certainly been here. I don't see him, but he could still be out here lurking about." She turned to face the line of guards behind her. "Be careful. If you see or hear anything, you are to say something immediately!"

Ignoring the guards' obedient replies, Eren gave the air another tentative sniff. The air still carried the acrid scent of burning foliage and flesh, but….

 _There's another smell._

The sharp tang of blood hit his nostrils, and he retched.

 _Why is this getting to me? I should be used to it by now. I fought at Trost! Why does this smell so much worse?! …And familiar? It's not human blood. Too musky. Maybe it's a titan…or a—_

"Get back! All…of you!" A thick-set guard raced out of the smoke, coughing. Dark brown eyes widened like full moons, he pointed at the sky with a quivering finger. "He grabbed…Hroki and Tor when they tried to…make a run for it! He'll…take you, too! By Shor, here he comes again!"

An earth-shattering roar echoed above them, and Eren tilted his head to the night sky. An enormous figure swept over the desolation and landed on the tower's crumbling top. Spreading his bat-like wings, he blocked the waning moons from Eren's view. His mud-brown scales glistened in the starlight, splattered with dark blood from his maw to his chest. The beast's nostrils twitched once…twice…before his amber gaze locked onto the young cadet.

"Eren!"

He felt Mikasa's hands against his shoulders and the sense of weightlessness before collapsing onto the coarse tundra grasses beneath him.

 _"_ _Yol-toor-_ shul!" a deep voice bellowed from above him.

Then came the blast of searing heat and a sharp growl, as if….

 _As if he's cursing us—me!_

The insult rang as clearly in Eren's ears as if they had been spoken in his native tongue: _"Bormahu ofan hi qahliiv, lir!"_

"Akatosh give you scale-rot, worm!"

Eren clenched his teeth and gave a deep growl. Leaping from the ground, he unsheathed his weapon and pointed the iron blade toward the beast's dim form. Fierce heat consumed his heart, surged into his fingertips.

"Feeble lizard!" he snarled. "Come fight me like a true _dovah,_ or are you too afraid to do that?!"

 _For him to speak to me like that…._

"Eren, stop!"

"By the Nine!"

"What in Oblivion—?!"

Every word blended into an endless roar as he lowered his sword and marched into the thick smoke. The intense heat stung his eyes, and every breath burned his lungs. Squinting, he stalked among the reddish-orange flames, head held rigidly.

Lifting his eyes upward, the chestnut-haired boy caught a glimpse of the larger of the two moons he had viewed on his first night in Skyrim. The celestial body's light flared through the dense smoke, as red as his own eyes.

The rotten stench of dragon breath assaulted his nostrils, and he resisted the urge to gag. He had been introduced to the scent of death at the destruction of Shigonshina, had been bathed in the sickening smell in Trost.

 _But this! It's so strong!_

The impact of a heavy object shook the ground. Lurched forward by the earth's vibrations, Eren felt a feverish rush of adrenaline course through his arms and face. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade as a dark shape emerged from the thick smoke.

"Mirmulnir." The name came to him as easily as those of his fellow cadets.

 _But how?_

The mud-brown dragon only bared his blood-stained fangs in reply. Growling, he crept toward the chestnut-haired boy.

 _"_ _Dinok, joor! Yol-toor-_ shul!" Fire shot from Mirmulnir's mouth, blackening the grass in its pathway.

Dodging the deadly flames, Eren raced toward the beast. Though his lungs ached from the foul smoke, he forced himself to maintain his speed.

"Die, damn you!" he snarled, driving his blade into Mirmulnir's shoulder.

The mud-brown dragon bellowed and reared onto his hind legs. Eren clung to his sword with both hands, gritting his teeth as the hilt's grip dug into his palms. Heartbeats before Mirmulnir could lift the young cadet from the ground, the iron sword snapped.

Eren felt the sense of weightlessness before the jolt of the ground against his back. Gasping for breath, he could only watch as his adversary stumbled backward.

 _Come on! Get up!_

No matter how fervently his mind screamed, he could not even move his fingers. Paralyzed, he lay on the coarse grass, as defenseless as a deer. Mirmulnir's deep growls reached his ears, dripping with bloodlust….

"Archers!" Ireleth's command rang out over the chaos.

Eren watched as a barrage of arrows sped through the air above him with fatal accuracy. The blood-curdling scream that followed gave testimony that the deadly projectiles had hit their target.

Struggling to his feet, the young cadet locked eyes with his hunter.

 _He's limping!_

Mirmulnir stumbled toward Eren, savage fangs bared. Dark, sticky blood gushed from the deep gash in the dragon's shoulder and around the quiver-full of arrows lodged in his chest. Even the beast's rumbling growls faltered as he drew in ragged gasps of air. His amber eyes had widened to almost twice their size, and his limbs had begun to quiver underneath his bulk.

 _"_ _Dovahkiin…no…."_ he panted before collapsing at Eren's feet.

Then came a final cough, followed by silence.

Eren stared wide-eyed at Mirmulnir's body, unable to move as the dragon's lifeblood pooled around his feet.

 ** _"_** ** _Eren."_**

 _The Voice!_

 **"** **Haalvut ok qah."** The deep-throated tongue vibrated through his chest, filled his mind with one thought:

 _"_ _Touch his scales."_

Eren stretched his hand toward Mirmulnir's forehead, cocking his head at the fallen beast. The body still emanated heat, and the young cadet's palm began to sweat as he placed it on the natural armor with which the dragon had been endowed.

Every one of his muscles locked at the sound of crackling beneath his hand. Flecks of scales and skin lifted from Mirmulnir, each blazing fiery orange before disappearing into nothingness. A surge of almost unbearable heat washed over the young cadet, and ethereal streams of pale blue light encircled him before entering his chest. The ghostly wisps murmured strings of words into his ears: long-forgotten memories and hidden knowledge stretching centuries.

One word rose above the others, demanding his attention with its endless clamor. One meaning entered his consciousness, ready to intertwine with his speech. Humming to an ancient tune, it burned in his mind like dragon fire, a force unlike any other.

 _Force! The drive behind nature's movements. Change itself._

He could not keep it contained within him any longer. The word had already begun to spring from his tongue.

 _"_ _Fus!"_ Goosebumps rose along his arms as he lifted his head and shouted the word to the night sky.

Eren smiled as a plume of ocean-blue energy rushed from his lips and into the darkness. An unstoppable gust of raw power that flung anything in its path.

 _Power…._

His heart thudded wildly in his chest, and his hands curled into fists. Dropping his head back to Mirmulnir's carcass, he found only a smoldering skeleton. The skull's eye sockets stared back at him lifelessly, devoid of even the overwhelming fear in the dragon's last moments.

"Eren!" Mikasa's cry rose above the sound of smoldering grass and flesh. "Can you hear me?! EREN!"

"What?" The young cadet shook his head and turned to face her.

"Eren! Are you all right?! Can you—?!" The dark-haired girl emerged from the smoke and halted in front of him.

"Mikasa? What is it? What's going on?" Eren asked.

His companion said nothing, only glanced at the thick smoke behind her. The faint clanking of chain armor drifted through the destruction, increasing in volume with every clank of steel and wood. Fifteen guards emerged from the smoke, swords drawn and bows pulled taut. In the center of the line stood Ireleth. Her own blade unsheathed and ready to kill, she lifted her free hand to stop her advancing squad.

"Whatever you do, don't let them see your eyes," Mikasa whispered. "Please."

"But I'm wearing my—" Eren paused and felt the top of his head, only to find his thick hair.

The remains of the hood that he had donned in Riverwood now hung in shreds around his shoulders.

"I can't believe it!" A single guard broke from his position and raced toward them, halting in front of Mirmulnir's skeleton. "You're…you're Dragonborn!"


	12. Chapter 12

"Dragonborn?" Eren asked, staring at the smoldering skeleton before him.

The odd word sent a jolt through his chest. He had never heard it in his short life, and yet…and yet….

 _Why does it feel so…familiar?_

"In the very oldest tales, back when there were dragons in Skyrim, the Dragonborn would slay dragons and steal their power," the guard replied, pointing to Mirmulnir's remains. "That's what you did, isn't it? Absorbed that dragon's power?"

"Honestly, I don't really know what happened to me." The chestnut-haired boy shook his head. "I was just standing here, and he told me to touch it."

"Who?" The man now stood only a few centimeters away from Eren, head cocked quizzically at the dead dragon. "There wasn't anyone out here. Couldn't have been. You were the only one out here. The only one alive, that is."

"He was probably just hearing things." Eren felt Mikasa's fingers curling over his shoulder. "He hasn't been feeling well."

"But I feel—!"

"Or it could've been the fighting," the dark-haired girl continued. "His ears could have been ringing from the dragon's roars."

"Hmm…" The guard cleared his throat and edged toward the pair of young cadets.

"Eren, close your eyes!" Mikasa whispered sharply into his ear as she brushed her fingers over his eyelids. "If he sees you—!"

"Wait! Let's see if he can shout."

"What?" Eren asked, struggling against his companion's grip.

 _What the hell is a shout?_

"A shout. Speaking in the dragon tongue," the guard replied. "It's the only way to know if you're Dragonborn or not."

 **"** **Tinvaak!"**

 _"_ _Speak!"_

Eren could do nothing but obey the ancient voice in his mind. Yanking himself from Mikasa's icy fingers, he opened his eyes and tilted his head toward the sky. The forceful gust of energy sprang from his lips and into the night, an ocean-colored plume of change itself.

"Eren! Don't—!"

"By the Nine, it's a shout! The language of dragons!"

 _So that's what this is…a shout._

The young cadet stared into the endless void above him. Every muscle in his body resonated with the same power that he had received after the shout had first left his mouth. Narrowing his eyes, he lowered his gaze from the star-filled abyss to the guard.

"What in Oblivion?!" the soldier shrieked, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at the young cadet's chest. "Ireleth!"

"Seize him!" The dark elf raced toward the smoldering remains of Mirmulnir. Followed by her band of guards, she had no difficulty running in her thick, leather armor.

Eren stared wide-eyed at the battle-hardened individuals surrounding him.

 _Why are they acting like this?_

"What's—?"

"Shut up, vampire!" a nearby guard snarled, pointing his sword at the young cadet's chest. "I don't want to hear whatever filthy lies you're about to spin!"

"Eren!" Mikasa stepped toward him, only to be halted by a burly Whiterun soldier. "Please, I have to get to him! You don't understand! Don't do this!"

Her cries continued uselessly, blending into the clamor of urgent commands and desperate tones. Swords clanked against shields, their silver blades directed at Eren's heart.

"Ireleth, what do we do? Finish him?"

"Are you insane?! Kill the Dragonborn?! He could be our only hope!"

"He won't be if he drinks us all!"

"That's enough!" Ireleth's voice rose above the others', heard clearly over the continuous blazing of the remaining flames. "Look, I've seen all sorts of things as outlandish as this. We'll take him to the Jarl immediately."

"Take _that_ threat?! Back into the city?! He could kill us all, if he wanted!" a young guard countered. "It will be just like the days before they restored the Dawnguard!"

"But he's been in Whiterun more than once, and we haven't found any bodies. No one's gone missing," she replied, casting her gaze upon the red-eyed captive. "Either he's not a threat…or he's well-fed. Like it or not, he did help us kill a dragon, and something as strange as this needs to be reported to the Jarl. Besides, if he's a vampire, there may be other uses for him."

"Yes, Ireleth," the guard replied, bowing his head.

"All right." The dark elf nodded to her men. "Let's move out!"

* * *

"So, you're a vampire…." Jarl Balgruuf sat upon his wooden throne, azure blue eyes narrowed at Eren.

"He isn't!"

The slicing ring of swords being drawn from their scabbards filled the air, and Eren glanced at Mikasa. The dark-haired girl stood to his right, ignoring the blades pointed at her throat.

"Please, leave him alone!" she continued. "He's not dan—!"

"I was talking to Eren." The Jarl stood from his throne. "Now…tell me. Are you a vampire?"

"No…well, I don't think so. I don't drink blood," the young cadet replied, shuddering as the vision of the bloody sea from his night at Helgen flashed in his mind. "Not yet."

"You haven't turned," The Jarl concluded.

Without a word, he slowly approached Eren, dagger unsheathed.

"Jarl Balgruuf, don't!" Ireleth rushed from her position beside the throne and leaped between the ruler and the chestnut-haired boy. "I can't let him kill you!"

"Relax, Ireleth. I simply want to talk."

"And you can do it from your throne just as well as you can here," the dark elf replied. "Is this really more important that the people of Whiterun?"

"I'm grateful for your service, Ireleth, but he's restrained, and I'm armed. I want to know what happened." Jarl Balgruuf gently pushed Ireleth aside and made his way to his captive. "What happened at the watchtower?"

"The watchtower was destroyed, but we killed the dragon," Eren answered. "It shouldn't be a problem anymore."

"But there must be something more. Did anything else happen?"

"I…don't know." The young cadet shook his head. "I went in after him. The guards shot him down with arrows, and he died. But…but I had this strange urge to touch him. When I did, I absorbed some kind of power from him. Some of the guards called me 'Dragonborn.'"

The Jarl nodded and backed away from his captive. Weapon still gripped tightly in his hand, he made his way back to his throne. For several heartbeats, he sat in his wooden seat, fingers upon his chin.

"So, it's true," he finally murmured. "The Graybeards really were summoning you…."

"Graybeards?" Eren cocked his head at the blonde-haired ruler.

"Masters of the Way of the Voice—of Shouting. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World," Jarl Balgruuf replied. "If you're really Dragonborn, they'll want to talk to you. In the old stories, they always summon the Dragonborn for training."

"Summon?"

"You heard that Shouting, didn't you?" A thickly-built warrior emerged from the shadows of a nearby wall. His shoulders were laced with the scars of several battles, and his pale-blue eyes narrowed at the young cadet, barely visible beneath the blood-red war paint smeared over his skin.

"Shouting?" Eren asked, turning to face the man who had spoken. "What?"

"You must have heard it! Their Voices shook the ground right before the guards led you in."

Eren stared wide-eyed at the soldier as the thundering chant echoed in his mind. Before the guards had opened the gates of Whiterun to allow the Ireleth's group into the city, the chorus of raspy male voices had rang out in the air. The tundra had quivered with the reverberations of the roar, causing the young cadet to stumble.

"That was what that was?"

"It must have been! But…this hasn't happened in…centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was summoned when he was still Talos of Atmora!" The warrior shook his head before turning to face the Jarl. "A vampire as the Dragonborn!"

"Hrongar, calm yourself!" a new, high-pitched voice echoed in the wooden halls of Dragonsreach as a bony, bald-headed man made his way down the stairs that led into the Jarl's headquarters. "What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with this vampire? Capable as he and his companion may be at killing dragons, I don't see any signs of him being this…"Dragonborn."

"'Nord nonsense?!' Why, you puffed-up, ignorant…. These are our sacred traditions that go back to the founding of the First Empire!" Hrongar unsheathed a steel greatsword from its resting place in a scabbard between his shoulders and pointed it at the bald speaker. "You dare insult our—?!"

"Hrongar…don't be so hard on Avenicci." Jarl Balgruuf sighed through his nose.

"I meant no disrespect, of course," Avenicci stammered. "It's just that…what do these Graybeards want with him?"

"That's the Graybeards' business, not ours," the Jarl replied. "Whatever happened when Eren killed that dragon, it revealed something in him, and the Graybeards heard it. If they think he's Dragonborn, who are we to argue?"

"You're not considering letting him go?" Ireleth pointed at the young cadet with her blade. "He's a vampire!"

"He hasn't turned yet," Mikasa countered, giving Eren a quick nod. "There's a man in Morthal who said that he could cure Eren. We need to reach him before it's too late."

 _Too late._

Eren shuddered at the meaning of that dreaded pair of words. He had heard them spoken several times by fellow cadets describing the deaths of their family members as the titans devoured those unable to escape their crushing grasps…or flesh-slicing teeth.

 _Will I ever be like that? A monster?_

"How much time do you think he has?" The Jarl's reply interrupted the young cadet's thoughts.

"I don't know," Mikasa whispered. "He's been having horrible fevers every day, and they keep getting more intense."

"…And if he were to turn…."

"I wouldn't be able to stop him," she finished, closing her eyes. "But the Graybeards…do you think they could cure him if we went?"

"It's possible," Jarl Balgruuf answered. "But I don't want a vampire wandering around my hold. Not when it could cost the lives of my people. Of all the people in Skyrim, a vampire had to be summoned to see the Graybeards."

"If you arrest him, he _will_ turn. Please, let us go." Mikasa stepped forward despite facing the threat of the burly guards' blades. "Please…."

Sighing, the Jarl stood from his throne.

"There is one way," he murmured. "It's not ideal, but it may get you to High Hrothgar without threatening many lives."

"What is it?" Mikasa asked.

"There's a group of warriors in Whiterun known as the Companions. They've had experience with vampires before, and I'm sure that at least one of them knows the way to High Hrothgar. If Eren turns before you reach the Graybeards, they'll know how to…deal with him."

 _"_ _Deal with him."_

Eren's memory of his bloody entrance into the Survey Corps flashed in his mind. One mistake would have doomed the young cadet to being impaled upon Levi's blades.

 _If I make one wrong move, they'll kill me._

"Well?" Jarl Balgruuf's eyes locked with Eren's. "Will you go with them?"

"I'll do it," the chestnut-haired boy replied.

"Excellent." The ruler gave him a quick nod before shifting his gaze to Mikasa. "Ireleth will escort you to the Companions and give them their orders. I envy you, you know. To climb the seven thousand steps again…. High Hroothgar is a very peaceful place. Very…disconnected from the problems of the world. I wish you well. Both of you."

The Jarl flicked his hand at the pair of cadets, and Ireleth made her way to Eren. Sword unsheathed, the dark elf led the chestnut-haired boy toward the palace's exit. Eren did not attempt to resist but matched his steps with her quick pace.

 _Maybe we'll reach High Hrothgar before I turn. But if I do…. No, I can't! I have to get through this and find out about the titans! And that Scroll…the_ Kel….

 _Kel…._

The word echoed in his mind as he was guided out of Dragonsreach.

 _No matter what happens, I have to find it! Nothing else matters..._


End file.
